Blog

It is exactly that time of year. Apples galore, cool days in need of a little extra warm, meaning a warm oven is welcome, if not needed. It%u2019s the best time of year, or at least one of them.

And so I bake bread. Sometimes just a roll, and sometime a loaf, almost everyday. I love bread baking because, well just because. Plus it%u2019s what people want to eat and will always eat because I guess bread=love. Makes sense to me.

This bread was made from a small dip in the 2 gallons of applesauce I made the night before. (We had sooooo many apples). The mr isn%u2019t the biggest fan of applesauce, says he would rather eat a fresh apple. I kind of get it, but dude, warm, chunky, slightly cinnamon-y applesauce%u2026 I mean, that is happiness right there. Right? Anyway, I am trying not to eat all the applesauce to my face by myself at once (it has been a challenge) and plus I needed to make the mr some bread, so I figured what the hell. I%u2019ll just use applesauce as my liquid in the bread. And so I did and that is that and now that mr really like applesacue (when it is baked into bread)

This bread is a basic sandwich type bread. The apple taste is there but not overwhelming so it can be used for sandwiches of all kinds, toast, just eating with a smear od something, or not. Just a overall good loaf of bread with a little extra from the apple. And braided because I was feeling classy. It%u2019s amazing what at little braiding of bread dough can do for your self esteem. Made me feel like I was the coolest person in the world. Haha!

Now to the bread.

The stuff. A few apples, regular all purpose and white whole wheat flour, salt, applesauce, maple syrup, yeast, and warm water.

Applesauce, shredded apple, maple, yeast, and a little water get mix up and let to sit for a few minutes to activate yeast. Then the salt gets mixed in, along with all the flour. Stir until dough forms. Dough should be slightly sticky, ut not wet. IF wet, add a handful more flour. To dry, add more water.

Dump the dough onto a floured surface, cover your hands in flour, and knead dough for about 5 or so minutes, adding more flour as needed to keep dough from sticking, until the dough is a nice and cohesive texture.

Nice looking dough. Now roll dough into a ball.

Place dough in a clean wet or oiled bowl and cover with a damp cloth for one to one and a half hours or until dough doubles in size.

Dump dough onto floured surface.

Cut dough into 3 equal pieces and roll out into long longs.

Braid logs together. You can stop here bake it this way or%u2026

After placing it on a parchment lined baking sheet, tuck the ends of the braids underneath each other and make it like this. Either way. And once you have the dough on the baking sheet, brush a little water or plant milk on top and let dough rest for 15 minutes of so while the oven preheats.

Before oven and after oven. Classy, right?

Then for shin and soft crust, rub warm loaf with some plant butter.

And for the hard part. Let it cool before slicing it. Ok sure, a little warm is fine, but wait at least 20 minutes (an hour would be best) and then eat you some bread.

Eat you some bread. That%u2019s a t-shirt right there.

Happy Fall friends!

-C

makes pretty one loaf

• 2 cups all purpose flour

• 1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour plus more for kneading

• 1 cup unsweetened room temperature applesauce

• 1 large or 2 small apples ( about 2/3 cup shredded apple)

• 1/4- 1/2 cup warm water

• 1 tablespoon maple syrup or honey

• 2 teaspoons active yeast

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 tablespoon or so plant milk or water

• 1 tablespoon plant based butter (optional for rubbing on finished bread)

Grab the apples and shred them until you have 2/3 cup shredded apple. In a large bowl, mix together the applesauce, shredded apples, yeast, 1/4 cup warm water, and sweetener.and let yeast activate for a few minutes. Add in salt, the all purpose flour and the 1 1/2 cups white wheat flour. Stir together until dough forms. The dough should be a little bit sticky so if the dough seems to dry, add in 1/4 cup more warm water. If it seems really wet, add in a handful more flour.

Dump dough out onto a well floured surface and knead for about 5 minutes adding a little bit of flour to the counter as needed to prevent it from sticking. Once dough is cohesive in texture, roll into a ball and place into a clean wet or oiled bowl. Cover with a damp towel and allow the dough to double in size. Should take between an hour and an hour and a half.

Once dough doubles in size preheat oven to 400

Dump risen dough back onto a well flour counter. Cut the dough into 3 equal sizes and roll each piece into long logs about 20 inches or so long. Place each roll next to each other and braid. Grab a baking sheet and line with a piece of parchment paper. Sprinkle with a bit of flour and place braided dough onto sheet, either as a braid or if you want, like I did, wrap the braid around itself into a rounded braid situation. Tuck ends into each other and under the loaf. Brush the top gently with a little plant milk or water and let rest for about another 15 minutes or so.

After the rest, place dough into preheated oven. Bake for 35-45 minutes (Less if left long braid, more if wrapped braid) or until the top is a deep golden brown and when tapped on the bottom, it sounds hollow. Also can use an insta read thermometer and check temperature. You want it to reach 190 degrees.

Once bread is baked, remove from oven. If you want the top to stay a little crispy, don%u2019t do anything but let it cool. For a softer, shinny crust, rub the top while it is still warm with some plant based butter.

Let bread cool completely before cutting.

Then eat it like you would eat bread. Any and every way.

Store cooled loaf in a airtight bag on counter for 2-3 days but if not eating that fast, slice and place into freezer. That way you can pull out individual pieces and toast as you want.

I am a firm believe in the healing power of food. Whenever anyone (that I like) gets some sort of medical percedure, I like to bring them something home cooked, weather it be dinner or a baked good,%u00a0%u00a0you know, so they don’t have to worry about starving to death. ( no one I have ever visited was ever starving)%u00a0Food helps you heal and food makes you happy so bringing a healing person some food only makes sense to me.%u00a0So when the mr’s aunt recently had part of her knee drilled out, cleaned out and stuffed with human cadaver bone marrow (%u00a0pretty cool))%u00a0%u00a0I baked her,%u00a0her husband, and her kiddos some muffins.

Why muffins? Well I was thinking soup or a casserole, but the mr suggests I do a baked good instead. I was going to go with a cake, but then that can get kind of annoying and troublesome with a couple of kids. Cupcakes are to cheesy and don’t send the right message of get well, (cupcakes say, run around.. sugar high!), a pie would have been nice, but I am not sure if the kids like pie. Then there are muffins.. muffins are perfect. Not terribly packed full of sugars and crap. A little more hearty, can be eaten as a snack, a dessert, or a quick breakfast, and keep for a good while. %u00a0I made them apple cause I gots a shit ton of apple and peanut butter cause protein is good and it just makes sense.%u00a0

Apple+peanut butter are BFF’s and really, what human doesn’t like peanut butter?%u00a0

So his aunt and family got the muffins, and the mr only got 1. I think he was really disappointed that I didn’t save him another one or make more. %u00a0

Oh well. I guess I can make them again, if he is lucky.%u00a0

And I feel like I should say get we’ll soon Sarrh, but this last is a badass and is already doing great,so I will just say,%u00a0Hi Sarah, looking good!

Now to the muffins!

The stuff. Dry ingredients are flour, baking packing soda cinnamon and salt. Then we have applesauce, breon sugar, oil, vanilla extract and vinegar.%u00a0For the streusel…. peanut butter, brown sugar, flour, salt and earth balance. (you could use butter if you want)

The streusel stuff goes into a bowl and gets mixed until it turns into a crumbly, soft dough and set aside.

Whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in one bowl, then in another bowl, mix together he applesauce, oil, vanilla, %u00a0sugar and lastly, the vinegar.%u00a0

Fold the wet into the dry, mixing just enough until incorporated. And remember%u2026.DON”T OVERMIX!

Now scoop batter into muffin pans. Use liners, or not%u2026 I usually don’t but figured that lined muffins travel and keep a little better%u2026 plus I just found a bunch when I was cleaning out a kitchen drawer.

Streusel top those muffins!

A view from the side%u2026 Use it all, don’t be shy, the crumble is there to be eaten%u2026 Oh, and lesson learned by me.%u00a0Next time I make these I will give the streusel a little pat into each muffin, to really secure it to the tops.%u00a0So yeah, you should do that.

Now into the ove they go!

Pull out to cool when the streusel is browned, the muffins are poofed, and a tester poked comes out clean.

The smell alone will make your mouth water and you tummy growl.%u00a0

A muffin win!

Happy Friday!%u00a0%u00a0Do lots of fun fall stuff this weekend!

-C

Makes 12 muffins

%u00a0Muffin Stuff

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 2 cups applesauce*%u00a0(recipe here)
• 2/3 cups brown sugar
• 1/2 cup oil
• 2 tablespoons apple-cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Peanut Butter Streusel Stuff

• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/3 cup peanut butter
• 3 tablespoon %u00a0brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons %u00a0earth balance

* IF you are using homemade applesauce (you should!) A little chunky is good. Just make sure that there are no huge chunks. Also, if you applesauce is really thick, just add a bit of water to think it would. It doesn’t have to be pourable, but it should have a bit of water content to it.%u00a0

Turn oven on to 350 and either grease or line a 12 hole muffin pan

In a bowl, combine all of the streusel stuff unit it becomes a kind of crumbly dough and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. In a separate bowl, mix together the applesauce,, brown sugar, oil, vanilla,, and vinegar. Pour the wet into the dry and fold in until %u00a0just fully incorporated, br careful to not over mix the batter.

Scoop equal amounts of batter into you muffin tin. Grab the streusel l topping and evenly distipute that all over the muffins, giving the topping a soft pat to make sure it stays put while baking.%u00a0

Place muffins in oven and bake for about 30 ish minutes, or unlit the streusel is browning, the muffins are poofy and a test comes out clean.

Remove from oven, pop muffins from tin, and let cool on a rack.

Serve as soon as you want. A glass of milk (plan, nut or cow) or a big old cup of joe goes really well with this muffin situation.%u00a0

Earlier this week, the mr and I took a little Vermont drive. We grabbed some coffee,%u00a0went to the country side, down some dirt roads, and struck apple gold. This road was lined with apple trees.(no, it was not an orchard) Trees all over the place, of all sorts of different variety apples, just falling from the trees. It was crazy. So We stopped, tasted, and picked picked picked. We filled up the trunk of the car.

This is after a few days earlier we picked about 2 bushels of heirloom apples that are growing all around our garden.So yeah, we might have a few apples laying around the house

But we picked with purpose.%u00a0The mr is in processes of making , from scratch, his own hard apple cider. He has 2 of these humngo 5 gallon glass carboys (is that what they are called) or glass jugs %u00a0that he was attempting to fill with cider. No problem right? We have an abundance of apples. Well that’s all well and good, but guess what? We don’t have a press. The mr didn’t seem to see this as a problem. He will just borrow a juicer%u2026HAHAHAH. that worked, for about 2 cups of juice, then the motor blew out. So I let him use my blender. He spent 4 house deseeding and blending apples to a pulp and squeezing the juice through a piece of cotton. It was ridiculous and amazing and he actually got about 3 gallons of juice through the process, which is now fermenting in the basement, but he did not get anywhere near the ten gallons that he was looking for. So next project%u2026 build an cider press.(seriously)

But we still gots about half of the shit ton of apples that we picked. Luckily,most of them are good keepers so I can store them for a while (until I eat them all) but some of them are starting to smell so super apple-y that I can tell that they need to be used %u00a0asap. And thats fine by me cause that just mean applesauce!%u00a0

Applesauce!!! It is a must,%u00a0an apple season stable. Sure you can make all sorts of pies, tarts cakes, salads,%u00a0pretty much apple anything, but applesauce is apple at it’s most delicious %u00a0purest state( besides fresh).%u00a0Plus applesauce can be used to make all of those %u00a0apple cakes, breads, salads and such. IT’s also %u00a0what you do when you have any apples that need to be eaten, might taste a little on the meh side,are too sour,%u00a0might look a little to funky to eat, or just because applesauce rocks and you want some.%u00a0

So yeah, applesauce is awesome-sauce and you need to make some May you apples be store bought, orchard pick, or wild foraged.%u00a0Any apples will do!

Applesauce time!

The stuff. Apples, apple and apple.%u00a0

Cut up the apples, removing the seeds and stems. (peel if you really must)

Toss all those apples into a pot and add in a few couple of water. Place lid on the pot, stick one medium heat, and let it cook.

Until it looks like this. %u00a0Applesauce.. a little on the chunk side(the way I like it) but if you want it smooth, just use a masher or a blender to smooth it as much as you like. This applesauce is all about you my friend.

Spoon into jars%u2026 and into you mouth.

Add some stuff (cinnamon, peanut butter, fresh raspberries…)%u00a0add to stuff, (yogurt, muffin batter, salad dressing%u2026)%u00a0or eat straight up.%u00a0The possibilities are endless!

Happy Wednseday and Happy First day of Fall!!!

-C

Makes about 2 pints%u00a0

• 5-6 pounds apples (use any variety or varieties that you like)
• 2 1/1- 3 1/2 %u00a0cups water

Note. I am not an apple peeler kind of lady. I get that some of you are, so by all means, peel your apples if you want.%u00a0

Chop apple into chunks, removing the seeds and the stem and toss into a heavy bottom pot. Pour in aout 2 cups water and stick on on a medium high heat and top the pot with %u00a0lid. After about 5 minutes, give the apple a good stir and turn heat to medium low. Let simmer for about 20-30 minutes, stirring every now and then,%u00a0adding more water if needed, until the apple are completely soften and falling apart. %u00a0Turn burner of and %u00a0either with a masher of some kind, or even a wood spoon, smash apart any large chunks of apples. If you like a smooth sauce, add it to a blender and puree until you are happy with the consistency. Want it thinner, add a little more water. Thicker, cook a little longer.

Note that once it’s refrigerated, it will become thicker too. Store in jars for up to a week (if it lasted that long)

Eat as is, or add %u00a0anything that you heart desires to it. Cold is great, warm is amazing. Can be used in just about any baked good or savory recipes that you can think up!

It’s been a week of weeks if you know what I mean. The world. There is a lot to process, good and bad. And now I think I need to catch up with my mind. I feel like I have let it run to far ahead of the rest of me. Or maybe I am running away from it? Either way. I need to reign it it and focus. That is the goal anyway.

As our routine, we went camping on Sunday and it was just the best, an unexpected greatness. We started with a great hike through pastures and woods and to a gorge and then headed to the park to pitch the tent. D.A.R State park. Neither of us had ever been there before and hadn’t heard anything about it, so we were not sure what to expect. And it turned out to be just fantastic. Big and spacious, pretty, relaxing, and right on the lake. Very few campers, all of which were old people. So quite. Our site was perfect and there was a sink near the bathrooms to wash dishes in. What more can you ask for? We played on the rock beach, made dinner, hug out by the fire, walked around the camp, went back down to the beach and skipped rocks while watching the sun set, and then crawled in to the tent for the night. The stars were crazy bright, the fireflies were everywhere, the sounds of the waves were faint but there. I was just as happy as as clam. Even when I woke up chilly. And then we woke up, made coffee, the mr fished for a few while I read and watched the sun come up then off and back to life we went.

After we got home Monday things got really busy and completely out of the norm. First off, the mr has been working a time sensitive job that has had him leaving as soon as I walk in the door in the morning and not getting home until I am in bed. And that in itself is not usual, but if that does happen, we will see each other during the day, at least for meals. It might not seem like such a biggy to most people, but for the past 17+ years, we have eaten almost every single meal together, and this week, no meals. I have been eating alone all week. At first I loved it because I love reading while I am eating and only ever do it on the very rare occasion that the mr is not home for a meal. But all week for lunch and dinner, alone. I have read 2 books, but I was starting to get lonely. I missed my mr. So sad. HAHA.

Anyway, while he was gone all week, I did some work, had coffee with my mom, made cookies with the littles, met Barb’s boyfriend, and ate ten thousand tomatoes. I also spent a good chunk of time cleaning out the loft (again) for my dad, and oh, I don’t even know, a bunch of other stuff. Then Jeff Dad came to VT. We went for a hike with couple littles at a state park, sat in traffic on the interstate for far too long, and then went to Megans house where I made dinner for everyone. I got to meet Anthony’s girl friend ( a week of meeting the significant others), got a glimpse of the butterfly chrysalis, and made Sophia cry because we picked all her basil for pesto and she really really didn’t want to share it. So I owe the girl a new basil plant.

Yesterday was family reunion up in Belvidere. The whole crew. Great as always. Seeing family is always the best. I love them all, even if they exhaust me and maybe make me want to run away screaming. But isn’t that the way it suppose to be?

And then we came home, the mr left again to finish this job last night and came home while I was in bed. Again. But now he is done. And I am so excited to have him around, although this week is a new job that will be taking him away again. At least we have today. Camping. Ricker Pond State Park. I am excited. No work for the mr. Just him and me heading out into the wilderness with our tent and sleeping bags and a socks! Socks cause it had been getting chilly at night….YAY for cool late summer nights! I am so ready for some cool weather and to bust out all my sweaters!!!!

Internet from the Internet.

-It’s that time of year again. One day theres one, the next there are a million! How to Get Rid of Fruit Flies Before They Take Over Your Kitchen

–Call Me Crazy, but I Think an Active Vacation Eases Stress More Effectively Than the Beach. No, not crazy at all. I need activity all the way, whether it is hiking, biking, or just walking 20 miles around a city. No beach reading for me.

-Avoid the toilet plume! Hey, Just Always Close Your Toilet Lid, OK?

-I don’t really get it, but it is awesome. Watch the New, Brilliant Trailer for Season 10 of “The Great British Bake Off”

–It’s the Season for Fruit, and Also for Writing About Cutting Fruit as an Act of Love. I always cut fruit up for the ones I love. HAHAHA, but for real.

-Oh fuck. A New Study Reveals Just How Toxic a Bee’s World Has Become

–Collards vs. Kale: Why Only One Supergreen Is a Superstar. Strange how people perceive certain things…

-I like. ON TREND: THE ART DECO BED.

–Fun People Order Pancakes: What Your Diner Order Says About You. Black coffee all the way.

-Can you imagine… 3 feet tall. Super bad ass and super scary! I wonder if they could talk too? This three-foot-tall parrot proves New Zealand is the mecca of giant weird birds

–Give Up Your Gas Stove To Save The Planet? Banning Gas Is The Next Climate Push. Would you? I think we all are going to need too. I am already thinking of induction. Definitely next kitchen I remodel.

And pictures from the week.

It is exactly that time of year. Apples galore, cool days in need of a little extra warm, meaning a warm oven is welcome, if not needed. It%u2019s the best time of year, or at least one of them.

And so I bake bread. Sometimes just a roll, and sometime a loaf, almost everyday. I love bread baking because, well just because. Plus it%u2019s what people want to eat and will always eat because I guess bread=love. Makes sense to me.

This bread was made from a small dip in the 2 gallons of applesauce I made the night before. (We had sooooo many apples). The mr isn%u2019t the biggest fan of applesauce, says he would rather eat a fresh apple. I kind of get it, but dude, warm, chunky, slightly cinnamon-y applesauce%u2026 I mean, that is happiness right there. Right? Anyway, I am trying not to eat all the applesauce to my face by myself at once (it has been a challenge) and plus I needed to make the mr some bread, so I figured what the hell. I%u2019ll just use applesauce as my liquid in the bread. And so I did and that is that and now that mr really like applesacue (when it is baked into bread)

This bread is a basic sandwich type bread. The apple taste is there but not overwhelming so it can be used for sandwiches of all kinds, toast, just eating with a smear od something, or not. Just a overall good loaf of bread with a little extra from the apple. And braided because I was feeling classy. It%u2019s amazing what at little braiding of bread dough can do for your self esteem. Made me feel like I was the coolest person in the world. Haha!

Now to the bread.

The stuff. A few apples, regular all purpose and white whole wheat flour, salt, applesauce, maple syrup, yeast, and warm water.

Applesauce, shredded apple, maple, yeast, and a little water get mix up and let to sit for a few minutes to activate yeast. Then the salt gets mixed in, along with all the flour. Stir until dough forms. Dough should be slightly sticky, ut not wet. IF wet, add a handful more flour. To dry, add more water.

Dump the dough onto a floured surface, cover your hands in flour, and knead dough for about 5 or so minutes, adding more flour as needed to keep dough from sticking, until the dough is a nice and cohesive texture.

Nice looking dough. Now roll dough into a ball.

Place dough in a clean wet or oiled bowl and cover with a damp cloth for one to one and a half hours or until dough doubles in size.

Dump dough onto floured surface.

Cut dough into 3 equal pieces and roll out into long longs.

Braid logs together. You can stop here bake it this way or%u2026

After placing it on a parchment lined baking sheet, tuck the ends of the braids underneath each other and make it like this. Either way. And once you have the dough on the baking sheet, brush a little water or plant milk on top and let dough rest for 15 minutes of so while the oven preheats.

Before oven and after oven. Classy, right?

Then for shin and soft crust, rub warm loaf with some plant butter.

And for the hard part. Let it cool before slicing it. Ok sure, a little warm is fine, but wait at least 20 minutes (an hour would be best) and then eat you some bread.

Eat you some bread. That%u2019s a t-shirt right there.

Happy Fall friends!

-C

makes pretty one loaf

• 2 cups all purpose flour

• 1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour plus more for kneading

• 1 cup unsweetened room temperature applesauce

• 1 large or 2 small apples ( about 2/3 cup shredded apple)

• 1/4- 1/2 cup warm water

• 1 tablespoon maple syrup or honey

• 2 teaspoons active yeast

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 tablespoon or so plant milk or water

• 1 tablespoon plant based butter (optional for rubbing on finished bread)

Grab the apples and shred them until you have 2/3 cup shredded apple. In a large bowl, mix together the applesauce, shredded apples, yeast, 1/4 cup warm water, and sweetener.and let yeast activate for a few minutes. Add in salt, the all purpose flour and the 1 1/2 cups white wheat flour. Stir together until dough forms. The dough should be a little bit sticky so if the dough seems to dry, add in 1/4 cup more warm water. If it seems really wet, add in a handful more flour.

Dump dough out onto a well floured surface and knead for about 5 minutes adding a little bit of flour to the counter as needed to prevent it from sticking. Once dough is cohesive in texture, roll into a ball and place into a clean wet or oiled bowl. Cover with a damp towel and allow the dough to double in size. Should take between an hour and an hour and a half.

Once dough doubles in size preheat oven to 400

Dump risen dough back onto a well flour counter. Cut the dough into 3 equal sizes and roll each piece into long logs about 20 inches or so long. Place each roll next to each other and braid. Grab a baking sheet and line with a piece of parchment paper. Sprinkle with a bit of flour and place braided dough onto sheet, either as a braid or if you want, like I did, wrap the braid around itself into a rounded braid situation. Tuck ends into each other and under the loaf. Brush the top gently with a little plant milk or water and let rest for about another 15 minutes or so.

After the rest, place dough into preheated oven. Bake for 35-45 minutes (Less if left long braid, more if wrapped braid) or until the top is a deep golden brown and when tapped on the bottom, it sounds hollow. Also can use an insta read thermometer and check temperature. You want it to reach 190 degrees.

Once bread is baked, remove from oven. If you want the top to stay a little crispy, don%u2019t do anything but let it cool. For a softer, shinny crust, rub the top while it is still warm with some plant based butter.

Let bread cool completely before cutting.

Then eat it like you would eat bread. Any and every way.

Store cooled loaf in a airtight bag on counter for 2-3 days but if not eating that fast, slice and place into freezer. That way you can pull out individual pieces and toast as you want.

When your sister drops off 50 lbs of beets, on top of the 50 lbs that you have to harvest that are growing in your garden, what do you do?

Well chips of course.

Yeah, chips. That%u2019s right. When I got home from camping on Monday and there was a humongous pile of beets sitting next to my front door, I am not going to lie, I was a little shocked. I mean there wasn’t just a few little ones. These beets were freaking huge, like the size of my arm, and so many. But pretty much right after my initial shock I knew what needed to be done. First, eat a few roasted, second, roast extra to freeze for later, and lastly, make a few bunches of chips.

Have you ever had beet chip? They are amazing. Crispy, crunchy, tasty as all heck. If you like beets, even in the slightest, you will love these. If you hate beets, well maybe don%u2019t? Either way, beet chips are the best chip. Wha’t%u2019s not to love? Pink, and chippy. Sweet, and salty. And then you add the fact that making beets into chips is a good way to get your veggies in and that you can eat a whole bowl full and feel zero guilt because you are just eating beets. Plus making beets into chips is a good way to use up any extra beets you might have laying around or that have been dropped off at your front door.

These chips, once they are made, will not last long. So when you do make them, know you will probably be making them again soon there after. Me, I have still have to harvest all my garden beets so beet chips are happening again soon. Real soon (like this afternoon!)

To the beets!

The stuff. Beets (these are Formanova beets but any variety works) salt and pepper ,and oil.

Ok so you need to cut these bad boys reallllllly thin. Like 1/15th a inch. So, what I am saying is, use a mandolin. If you don%u2019t have one, a knife will do, but you are going to have a hard time getting them as thin as you need to and all of them consistent so baking is going to be a little more tricky so maybe you should just go borrow or invest in a mandolin.

Grab baking sheets, oil, and salt and pepper. You can either dump the oil directly onto the pile of sliced beets and really toss to make sure each one has been coasted or do what I did which was I drizzled oil into my hands and rubbed each sliced beet between my oiled hands before placing on the sheet.

After you get them on there, single layered with no overlapping, sprinkle tops with a pinch of salt and pepper.

On the way into the oven.

After the oven. Baked for about 18 minutes. You really have to watch after the first 13 or so minutes to make sure you catch them at the perfect time. Crispy, but not burnt.

A side by side shot. Crazy shrinking will happen!

Oh man, so delicious. And so pretty!.

Let the chips cool before eating, you know, so you don%u2019t burn your tongue. Plus they crisp up a wee bit more.

Once cooled, pile them into bowl, and then eat them. And eat them all. They are only beets after all. And you won%u2019t be able to stop yourself anyway. Ha

-C

Makes enough for an evening of chip eating for 1-2 people

• 2 Large beets (think softball sized)

• a tablespoon or two of oil (I used grape seed but really any would work)

• salt and pepper

Note. Making these without cutting with a mandolin will be a pain in the ass. It can be done, but if you have a mandolin, use it.

Preheat oven to 350

With a mandolin, slice the beets about 1/15 inch thick. (No need to peel the beets unless you want to.) Once beets are all sliced, either drizzle them all with a tablespoon or so of oil and toss until all are coated. OR what I did and found worked really well was drizzled oil into my hands and rubbed each beet between my oiled hands as I was placing them on the baking sheets. Either way.

Now place oiled beets, single layered, without overlapping, on baking sheets. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt and pepper and place into oven. Bake for about 13 minutes without worrying then start to check every minute or so until the beets are a deep golden brown and crispy ,which will be between 15-20 minutes. Also, even though you cut them all the exact same thickness, some might crisp up faster so you should remove done chips as they happen. Once they are done, place on a rack to cool. And then do another batch. And not, they do crisp up a tiny bit more as they cool.

Once chips are cool and crisp, eat.

Store uneaten (how did you not eat them all?) chips in an air tight container. If you notice that they turned a bit chew, just place them back into oven while preheating oven to 300 then turn oven off and let sit in there for a few minutes.

%u00a0 %u00a0 %u00a0Spicy, crispy cauliflower%u2026 um yes please.%u00a0 I really like cauliflower. The mister loves it, or at least likes it better than any other vegetable. So when he asked for spicy cauliflower, well yea I am going to make it because I am so nice and really, could I say no to a veggie request? (I might have said no if it involved deep frying) Also, I found fresh cauliflower on sale! ($2.25) I don’t usually cook fresh cauliflower, but %u00a0I figured at that price, it wouldn’t be bad to cook a head. (If I am cooking cauliflower, which I do a lot, I just use frozen%u2026.casue it be waaaay cheaper)%u00a0

Fresh, cheap and requested veggies%u2026.those are must makes. And the mister was happy with I handed him the plate of oh so lovely looking crispy crunchy loveliness. (I kind of like to make him happy%u2026sometimes)

The stuff. Cauliflower, chopped and broken into pieces. Corn meal mixed with salt, pepper, onion and garlic powder, and because I made this for the mister, parmesan cheese. And in the green bowl, srirsachi and a little oil. The%u00a0cauliflower%u00a0gets a coat of the hot sauce and then tossed around in the corn meal mixture. Handling as little as possible, place coated pieces on a lightly oiled baking sheet and stick those suckers in the oven for%u00a0about a half hour, taking them out and%u00a0flipping half way.And take them out of the oven when pieces tuned golden brown, stik them on a plate, and serve immediately.

A bit of spice, a bit of crispy , a lot a yum. %u00a0Serve with some crunchy veggies, maybe a squeeze of lemon and definitely some type of avocado situation.

A beer would be lovely too!

Have a fantastic weekend!%u00a0

-C

Spicy Crispy baked Cauliflower

• 1 head cauliflower, chopped or broken into florets
• 1/2 cup corn meal
• 3-4 tablespoon sriracha or your favorite hot sauce
• 1 tablespoon olive or coconut oil
• salt and pepper
• Any seasonings you might like (garlic or onion powder,%u00a0parmesan cheese,%u00a0national yeast%u2026. whatever%u00a0floats your boat)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees%u00a0

In a bowl, mix together sriracha and oil. In a separate %u00a0bowl, mix salt, pepper, any seasonings you might like, and corn meal. %u00a0Take cauliflower and toss in sauce to coat. Remove from sauce and toss around in cornmeal mixture till fully coated, but try not to hand too much%u00a0so the coating doesn’t come off. Place pieces on a lightly oiled baking sheet and stick into oven. Bake for about 15 minutes, remove and flip pieces. Back into the oven for another 15-20 minutes (depending on you crispy preference) Remove when golden brown (or darker if you like) and%u00a0serve immediately.

Cucumber, celery, and carrots are great accompaniments.. also a little mashed avocado or guacamole is much appreciated.

First day of Spring!! Well kind of I guess. I think it actually starts at like 6:20 tonight, when the temperature is going to dip back done to 10.(Spring my ass) I don’t know about you people out there but here in Vermont, we are really hanging on to winter. I have to keep telling myself%u2026″ It will be warmer soon and you’ll be looking forward to this weather in a few months.. so stop bitching!” %u00a0I give myself good pep talks.

Anyway, last week at the farm share pick up, there was a nice little surprise. We got a few pounds of some sweet locally grown and milled whole wheat flour. There was a little sign with the information about the wheat and where it came from, but in my haste of gathering all of my other veggies, I failed to take notes and forgot the name of the farm that it came from. But I do know that my farm traded some celeriac for the wheat. %u00a0I was really excited because I am really into the idea of using locally grown grains and I don’t know, it just made me really happy, especially because it was a trade. %u00a0Food framing and local sharing is stuff that makes me happy.

I wanted to make something to kind of showcase the hearty, nutty flavor of the wheat and I also wanted to make something that my mister would eat for breakfast. Well what better way to do that then with muffins!%u00a0Banana coconut whole wheat%u00a0(that just happen to be vegan) Hearty, fruity, and smells like the word lovely and the color yellow.%u00a0A few to eat and a few to share. Hanging at home, running away or %u00a0getting ready for a day of spring cleaning%u2026.This is a great weekend to make muffins!%u00a0

The stuff%u2026 Light, nutty local whole wheat flour, ripe oh ripe bananas and coconut flakes are the stars in this muffin%u2026 But we need the other stuff too. Brown sugar, vanilla, coconut oil and a chia egg. %u00a0Baking powder, baking soda, and last but not least, salt.

%u00a0Yup, that sounds about right%u00a0 %u00a0The salt, baking soda, and baking powder are whisked together. The banana and all the rest of the stuff are mixed up%u2026 Then mix the wet mixture into the dry. Stir until combined and then add in the coconut flakes,Scoop mixture %u00a0into 12 lined muffin cups%u2026 A scoop like mine works very nicely. Don’t have one, well I recommend you get yourself one. Until then, use a spoon. Something I always do when baking any muffin is sprinkle the tops of each muffin with a bit of %u00a0sugar or brown sugar. It melts and caramelizes and adds a sweet little crunch to the tops.%u00a0

Now stick the muffins into the oven.%u00a0Remove from oven when they look like this, nice and golden brown. Also good idea to check with a tester stuck into the middle. When it comes out clean, they are done.12 happy little muffins cooling on a rack, waiting to be eaten with you mouth.%u00a0

Doesn’t the sight of pretty food make you happy, like sing a song happy?%u00a0Muffins, whoa yah!! %u00a0Friday yah yah!! %u00a0Spring%u2026What, Yah!! %u00a0Yah%u2026Yah Yah!!!

Terrible I know, but at least you were spared hearing my actual voice.%u00a0

Have a great weekend. Do lots of springy stuff!

-C

• 2 Cups Whole Wheat Flour
• 4 Ripe bananas
• 1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 3/4 Cup Brown Sugar
• 1/3 cup melted Coconut Oil
• 1 Tablespoon Chia Seeds + 3 Tablespoons warm water
• 1/2 Cup Unsweetened Coconut Flakes

Preheat oven to 350

In a small bowl, mix 3 tablespoons warm water to the chia seeds and let sit for at least 5 minutes (10 is better) In a large bowl, peel and mash the bananas until they turn into a kind of chunky soupy puree. %u00a0Add in brown sugar, chia seed mixture, vanilla extract, and the melted coconut oil (make sure it’s melted or it won’t incorporate into the mixture) Mix together. In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Mix the wet mixture with the dry until combined then mix in the coconut flakes.%u00a0

Line a 12 cup muffin tin and fill each cup about 3/4 the way up with batter. Sprinkle each muffin with brown sugar and place in oven on center rack. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the tops 0f the muffins are golden brown and a tester inserted into the middle comes out clean.%u00a0

Remove muffins from tin and let cool.

Serve as is or maybe with a smudge of coconut butter, or anything you want really.

No need for fork, just use you mouth.

I swear I didn’t plan this, but today is officially Pi Day!%u00a0Pi being the mathematical constant of the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its dimeter (did I say that right?) 3.1415%u2026%u2026 And today’s date is 3.14.15. %u00a0 Whoa%u2026I guess that means that this pie was meant to be.%u00a0

But the real reason I made this pie was for a surprise treat for the mister. He left for a couple of days and me being the super assume lady love of his, thought it would be nice for him to come home to his favorite dessert.. plain old rhubarb pie.( I know, I be the best) And it didn’t hurt that when I went to the grocery store, there was a big old pile of fresh, gorgeous rhubarb staring me right in the face, and on sale to boot.

The funniest thing. Me and the mister have been together for a very long time (12+ years%u2026.we started dating in high school, so I am not that old!) and I have known that his favorite dessert is plain rhubarb pie for ever. Every time we have one of our food discussions about our favorite foods, (which happens more than it should and usually consists of me running my mouth and him grunting or nodding once in a while) rhubarb pie always comes up. He even talks about the old lady who used to make him rhubarb pie for mowing her lawn. And guess what… %u00a0I have never once made him a plain rhubarb pie. Why? Honestly, I have no idea. Maybe I secretly think I was going to screw up his one favorite dessert, or maybe I never quit had enough rhubarb for a pie, or maybe I am really just an awful lady. But for whatever reason, it doesn’t matter anymore because I finally made him a plain rhubarb pie.%u00a0

The stuff for the makings of pie%u2026 One single pie crust, flour, sugar and rhubarb. I mean, come on, this might be one of the simplest pies ever. %u00a0

Note%u2026The first thing the mister said to me when he saw the pie was. “Where is the top crust? My response what “Screw you ass face” but then chuckled. This pie would be great with a top crust, but I was thinking how pretty it would be without it. And honestly, I only made a single crust. What I am saying is.. make a double crust if you want a top.

%u00a0 %u00a0%u00a0The chilled pie crust gets rolled out, placed into a pie plate, trimmed and made all pretty. The bottom is sprinkled with a 1/4 cup of sugar and stuck back into the fridge while the oven preheats %u00a0to 350. %u00a0Now is a good time to dice the rhubarb into inchish chunks. Once the oven is preheated, remove crust from fridge and add in the diced rhubarb.

%u00a0 %u00a0The remaining sugar and flour get mixed together in a bowl %u00a0and dump on top of the rhubarb. Give it a tiny toss with you fingers just to get some of the mixture to sink down a little. (Don’t worry, the filling will be perfect when you do it like this) I also cut up the pie crust trimmings and placed on top%u2026 not necessary, but looks pretty and is a good use of the scraps.

Now cover the entire pie with tinfoil. Cut and x through the middle and fold foil back to expose the filling but keep the crust covered. (so much easier than trying to squish strips of foil together..you know what I am talking about)%u00a0

And then the pie is ready to be baked.

In the oven for 5o minutes with the foil, then 10 or so minutes without to finish.And then you take it from the oven and marvel at the beauty.

I am now truly the best super awesome lady love. I should get a freaking crown but would settle for a stand mixer or blender as a reward instead.%u00a0

Important%u2026..Let the pie cool completely (or just about) before cutting.The filling needs a bit of time to set.

Happy Saturday, Happy Weekend, Happy PI Pie Day!!!

-C

Rhubarb Pie

• Single Pie Crust.. Recipe here
• 4-5 large Rhubarb Stocks (4 cups chopped)
• 1 1/4 cups white sugar
• a hefty 1/3 cup flour

Make you pie crust.. and make sure it’s chilled!

Roll our pie crust and place in pie plate. Trim and make edge all nice and pretty. Add 1/4 cup of sugar to the bottom %u00a0and stick back in the fridge to relax while you get the other stuff together.

Preheat oven to 350

Wash and dice rhubarb into inchish chunks. In a bowl, mix together 1 cup of sugar and the flour. Once the oven is preheated, remove crust from fridge and fill crust with the chopped up rhubarb. Now dump the sugar, flour mixture on top, slightly tossing it around with your fingers. Cover entire pie with tin foil and with a knife, cut an x through the middle of the foil. Fold foil back to expose the center of the pie, but keep the crust covered. Stick into oven. Bake for about an hour, removing the tin foil after about 50 minutes. Pie is done when the crust is golden brown and a fork or knife stuck into the middle of pie comes out with a thick jam like sauciness.

Let pie cool and set for a bit.

Slice. Serve on a plate with an eating utensil and maybe a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream. %u00a0Lick plate clean.

%u00a0How awesome will you be when you bring the most freaking amazing tortilla chips to the party this weekend? You will be like..”what, it ain’t no thang.. I am just good like that” Yes, yes you are.

And yes, I am assuming that you will be making these awesome%u00a0chippers to share at a Super Bowl part this weekend. I say this because even as I sit here writing this (with the TV on) there has been nothing but football talk%u2026deflated balls, hot wings, half time shows and commercials. It’s almost as big as Christmas. %u00a0Got to get the decorations, the special game day food and your football jerseys. It’s crazy and all over the place. So that’s why I am assuming you are making these for the game. %u00a0But if you not going to be participating in any football parties.. by all means, make these chips for yourself anyways. Celebrate you day! Have a non football watching party. Or just make these whenever. %u00a0Jalape%u00f1o Lime chips for everyday!%u00a0

Note: You can make these chips without the jalaeno and or the lime if you need or want to. You can also stop after the first step and have some dank corn totillas for tacos ands stuff..But definitely make the chips%u2026 worth it for sure!

%u00a0 %u00a0 %u00a0

All the stuff.. Masa harina, hot water, salt, a lime and a jalape%u00f1o. Zest lime and place half the zest into a glass bowl with oil and either sit on warm oven or microwave for 30 seconds to infuse. %u00a0Puree the jalape%u00f1o with a cup of hot water and add the puree and half the zest of a lime, plus salt, to the masa harina. Mix it all up with another 1/2 cup of water or enough to make the dough resemble play dough%u2026 You can add more water or masa if you dough is to wet or dry.%u00a0

Knead dough a few times just to make sure it’s completely uniformed and divide %u00a0into 12-14 equal pieces. Place balls on a plate and cover with a wet paper towl to keep from drying out.

%u00a0I do not own a tortilla press so I used what I had%u2026 wax paper, a wooded cutting board and brunt force. I took each ball and place it between the two pieces of the waxed paper, placed the cutting board on top, and with all my might and body weight, pressed down to smoosh. %u00a0It works like a charm.

My%u00a0cast iron skillet is big enough to cook 2 -3 at a time, but doing one at a time is cool too. Preheat the skillet to medium heat. Cook each tortilla for about 2-3 minutes ( or until starting to brown) on each side. Half way there to chips!!!

With my fingers ( you can using a basting brush for sure), I rubbed a little of the lime oil all over %u00a0both sides of each tortilla. Stacked a few high, %u00a0then sliced those tortillas into triangle shapes. If you %u00a0want to go crazy, you could cut them into strips or even use a cookie cutter and do some fun shapes%u2026 but triangle are easy, classic, and practical. A good shape for dipping!

Placed all nice and cozy on a baking sheet. trying not to overlap. Into a 400 degree oven for about 20 minutes to complete the chip making process.. After about 15 minutes, check for doneness. When nice a crispy, remove from oven, squeeze %u00a0lime juice all over and sprinkle with salt. I then stuck them back in the oven for a few more minutes just to dry the lime..

After cooling down, take those chips and stick them in a bowl.%u00a0

Eat a few, but wait and save them for the party. Or better yet, make a few batches. Bring a batch, eat a batch. (Its ok, you are allowed)

Eat with some salsa, maybe some of%u00a0this guacamole, or just as they are%u2026Anyway is the right way as long as you are eating!

Have fun making these and have fun getting read for the party this weekend (Super Bowl or not!)

-C

Jalape%u00f1o Lime Tortilla Chips

Makes 12-14 tortillas.. then made into a medium bowl of tortilla chips.

Ingredients%u00a0

• 2 cups masa harina
• 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 cups hot water
• 1%u00a0teaspoon salt
• 1 lime (juice and zest)
• 1 large or 2 small jalape%u00f1os%u00a0
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• salt

To start, zest lime and add 1/2 of the zest to bowl with the oil. Place oil on warm spot on stove to let the oil infuse the limeness.%u00a0

Take jalapeno and puree with 1 cup of hot water. In a large bowl, add puree %u00a0and remaining lime zest to the masa harina and mix, adding an additional 1/2 to 1 cup of hot water until the dough %u00a0resembles %u00a0play dough, not to soft, but not to dry and completely incorporated

Divide dough into 12-14 balls and place on a plate %u00a0under a wet paper towel to keep dough from drying out.%u00a0

One at a time, take a dough ball and place between two pieces of wax or parchment paper. Place either a plate or cutting board on top and press down as hard as you can (you could even stand on it). Remove flatten tortilla from paper and place in medium hot skillet. Cook each tortilla for 2-3 minutes on each side.

When all tortillas have been made, lightly rub lime oil on all over both sides. Stack a few on top of each other and cut into triangles. Place pieces on a baking sheets (I used 2) and bake at 400 for 15- 20 minutes or until lightly browned and crunchy. When chips are done, remove from oven, squeeze or sprinkle lime juice on chips and sprinkle with salt. Stick back into oven for another 2 or so minutes to re-crisp%u00a0from the lime juice.%u00a0

Remove and let cool completely, then dump into a bowl

Enjoy!

So the mister wants to know%u2026″Why would anyone ever buy those crappy english muffins from the store when they could be eating these?”

Good question%u2026And we will all answer%u2026.”Never again! Because I now make the sickest E.M.s around.!”(E.M.s is the cool short way to say english muffins and now that you are going to make your own%u2026.man, your so cool!)

These E.M.s are perfect. Easy to make, not overly fussy, and you end up with a super yummy, extremely versatile, individually portion super sweet little disk of bread. And the best part is..nooks and crannies! I think that is why I decided to make these E.M.s, %u00a0so Nick and I can talk the about nooks and crannies%u2026(Sometimes we need light conversation)

%u00a0

We start with flour and salt whisked together in a bowl. The honey, yeast and warm water are getting on proofing in a jar. An egg waiting to be cracked, some milk, and 2 tablespoons of butter. All this good stuff equals%u2026nooks and crannies!

Oh you like my nifty dough whisk%u2026.me too, I use it all the time. Maybe I should have a dough whisk give away %u00a0%u2026%u2026maybe%u2026..

Everything all mixed together, dumped onto a floured surface and kneaded for 10 minutes by hand%u2026..If you have a stand mixer, you can use it if you want, but you are missing out on the fun of doing it by hand%u2026.

When the dough has been sufficiently kneaded, gather dough into a nice ball, coat with a little oil and place back into bowl. Cover with a towel and stick in a warm place to rise for about an hour or until it has doubled in size.

When dough has doubled, punch down and plop out onto floured surface.%u00a0Dust the bottom of a griddle or in my case, two cast iron pans, with corn meal. Divide dough into 8-10 equal balls and smash into 2 inch thick disks.%u00a0

Place on griddle or pans and sprinkle more corn meal on top of each E.M. Cover and let rise for another 15 minute.%u00a0

Now the E.M.s %u00a0have rested, turn the griddle (or pans) on to low heat. Once your griddle (or pans) gets hot, continue to cook that side for another 7-10 minutes, or until golden brown. Flip and cook other side for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Once browned, check for doneness with a thermometer. The inside should reach 200 degrees.( if you don’t have a thermometer, fork split one open and check%u2026. you are going to eat it anyway) If the outside cooked faster then the inside, no worries, just pop them into the oven at 350 for 8-10 minutes. I had to pop mine into the oven for to cook completely.

%u00a0Remove form griddle, let cool a bit, and %u2026%u2026Fresh, fluffy fat, fantastic%u2026.Everything and more that a real english muffin should be. Split open with a fork and%u2026%u2026. the nooks and crannies! So spot on. %u00a0Serve with anything your heart desires%u2026I served these with whipped honey butter%u2026. and eat the only kind of E.M. you will ever again eat. Grocery store english muffins be damned!

Enjoy and Happy Tuesday!

-C

English Muffins

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 %u00a0cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons honey
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoon butter at room temperature
• 1 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 1/4 cup warm water
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1 egg
• cornmeal for pan

Combine warm water, honey and yeast in a bowl to active..about 5-10 minutes or until yeast is foamy.

In a separate bowl, whisk together flour and salt. Mix in butter(I use my fingers) When yeast mixture is done proofing, whisk together mixture with the egg and milk. Add wet %u00a0to dry and mix until just incorporated%u00a0%u00a0Dump out onto floured surface and knead dough for 8 minutes, adding a bit of flour whenever dough starts to get too sticky. %u00a0Roll into a ball, coat with oil and place back into bowl and cover with a towel. Let rise for 60 minutes or until sought has doubled in size.

Once the first rise is done, deflate dough and divide into 8 equal pieces(10 for a slightly smaller muffin). %u00a0Smoosh each ball into a flat disk, about 2 inches thick) and place on a cold cornmeal dusted cast iron griddle. (I used 2 cast iron pans) Sprinkle tops of muffins with more corn meal and let dough rest for another 15 minted. %u00a0Turn burners on low heat. Let griddle get hot and continue to cook the muffins for another 10 minutes or until golden brown. Flip and cook opposite side until gold brown and remove from griddle. To make sure the muffins are cooked completely, stick an instant%u00a0read thermometer into the center%u2026it should read 200 degrees. (if you don’t have a thermometer, split one open%u2026 the tester E.M.) %u00a0If the E.M.s%u00a0are not completely cook, just stick in the oven on 350 for 5-10 minutes or until cooked throughout.

Remove and let cool. %u00a0To serve, split open with a fork and give a light toast. Spread with butter, jam, peanuts butter, anything you want%u2026maybe %u00a0make E.M pizzas!%u00a0

I usually base my meals on what I know I have for food in the house and what I know needs to be eaten.%u00a0I was a little surprised when muling around in the freezer to find a block of extra firm tofu. (I don’t remember buying). Maybe a tofu fairy left it in there for me, or maybe it has been in there for years and I just am now stumbling upon it. Either way, I found it and it had to be eaten. So I cooked it up, and I cooked it up nice and good. Tofu is a pretty vertical food, being that its basically a flavorless block of protein. It can go sweet or savory, mashed, chopped or blended. Add fresh garlic, any type of sauce %u00a0or even %u00a0peanut butter. (the possibilities are quite endless) %u00a0I was going for a dinner dish so I decided on a simple cubed tofu with lots of ginger and garlic (so good to ward of those winter sicko bugs out there) and baked it up nice and%u00a0crispy with fresh bright green broccoli and soba noodle. %u00a0Quick, easy, tasty and healthy.. I did it again. %u00a0Thanks tofu fairy!

%u00a0%u00a0This noodle dish is super easy to make and take only about a half hour. We start with extra firm tofu, a package of buckwheat soba noodle, a nice big broccoli crown, honey, fresh ginger, garlic and soy sauce. oil for pan and lime for a finish. %u00a0Nothing fancy.%u00a0Dice the tofu into small cubes and place onto a clean dish towel and pat dry%u2026It really helps the tofu suck in more flavor and become nice a and crispy.

%u00a0Tofu get moved into a lightly oiled skillet, %u00a0ready to go into a hot oven. Why baked instead of saut%u00e9ed on the stove? I find that the tofu keeps it shape and crisps up better when baked. But do whatever you want%u2026.. But just bake it.

While the tofu is baking, make up the sauce. Grate about 2 tablespoons of fresh ginger and4 large cloves of garlic into a bowl. Whisk together with 2 tablespoons honey, 1/3 cup %u00a0soy ( tamari or brags aminos works too) and 1/3 cup of warm water. %u00a0Taste it, and if you think it needs more anything, add it. I actually used 6 cloves of garlic, but I really wanted a garlic packed sauce. %u00a0 %u00a0

Oh and start a pot of water to boil noodles in.

%u00a0After 15 ish minutes, give tofu a flip, then after about 25 minutes, the tofu should be nearly done. Remove from the oven and toss in the chopped broccoli and 1/3 cup of the sauce. Its a little watery but thats what you want, it will cook down in the oven. Now stick the skillet goes back into the oven and boil the soba noodle.

%u00a0%u00a0%u00a0Another 10 minutes in the oven and the sauce starts to caramelize and the broccoli is cooked but still nice and crisp. %u00a0Remove skillets from oven and toss in the cooked noodles and the rest of the dressing. Toss and toss and place on a plate, or a bowl, or if your into it, just eat out of the pan. (it happens)

I added a small handful of fresh shopped cabbage to add a bit more crunchy bite. %u00a0I also added a squeeze of lime juice on top for a nice acidic finish. Lemon works and even a slash of vinegar would be nice, but plain is good too. What ever you do, just EAT!%u00a0

A quicky yummy, noodley dinner! %u00a0And leave a little extra for left overs because these noodles are fantastic cold%u2026 think lunch, or a later that night fridge snack.%u00a0

keep it in the reals!

-C

Ginger Soy Tofu and Broccoli Soba Noodles

Ingredients

• 1 package of extra firm tofu
• 1 package Soba noodle%u00a0
• 1 large crown of fresh Broccoli
• 2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
• 3-4 cloves garlic
• 1/3 cup low sodium soy sauce
• 1/3 cup water
• 2 tablespoons honey (or brown sugar for vegan)
• Lime wedges(Optional)
• Chopped cabbage(optional)
• coconut or oil for skillet

Preheat oven to 425

Remove tofu from package, cut into cubes and lay on a clean dish towel and pat dry.%u00a0

Tofu goes into a oiled skillet and placed in oven for 25 minutes. Give tofu a flip after about 15 minutes. While tofu is baking, make the dressing, chop the broccoli and boil water for soba noodles.

For dressing, grate fresh ginger and garlic into a bowl. Whisk together with soy, water and honey (or brown sugar).

When water is at a boil, add soba noodle and cook until done ( about 6-8 minutes..Follow instructions of package)

When tofu has baked for 20 minutes, remove skillet, toss in chopped broccoli and 1/2 cup of soy ginger dressing Return skillet to oven for another 10 minutes or until dressing just starts to caramelize. %u00a0Remove for oven and toss in cooked soba noodles and the rest of dressing. If you want a little more veggie bit, add in some fresh chopped cabbage. Plate and serve with a wedge of lime or lemon or even a sprinkle of red wine vinegar.

Now EAT!

It%u2019s officially fall and officially fantastic. All of my sweaters are so happy to see me, and me them. So are the sweatpants and the socks. They are here for me to keep me all cozy and warm. Nothing like coming home on a cold dreary day and throwing on a big chunky sweater, a oversized pair of soft sweatpants, and thick wool socks. Add a cup of hot tea, a good book, and a lap blanket and heading out tp sit on the front porch and breathing in all that fresh fall air. So good. So freaking good.

Last Sunday camp was at Gifford State Park. Another Vermont gem. So pretty, so quite, the colors starting to show in the trees. We went for a nice hike into a forest of old growth trees, then launched out the kayaks on a nearby pond and paddles around for awhile. Back to the campsite for lentils and zucchini then the mr fired up some wood and we watched the sun set behind the golden trees. Laid under a sky full of the brightest stars and watching the trees whip around and listened to the wind blow hard and wild all night long. It was dang near perfect. And after the morning coffee making and tent taking down, off into the week we went.

Back in town we got back to it as per usual. The this and that of life. I made gallons of applesauce, fed Barb and went on a tea and pumpkin run (fall essentials). Went over to Moms for dinner and so the mr could fix her sink. I harvesting the last bits of summer from the garden then went to Costco to find a Christmas tree??? (They had them set up right next to the bathing suits and halloween candy. %ud83e%udd37%ud83c%udffb%u200d%u2640%ufe0f) We did some more stuff that needed doing. Looked at land in the wilds of Vermont (found a piece but there were offers on it already. So bummed) I worked the studio, picked up farm share, and I worried about the mr after he stabbed himself in the eye with a screwdriver and almost lost the eyeball. Then we had the boys sleep over Friday for Mileys birthday so she could have a sleep over with her friends at her house. We made pizza, went to the park, and all cuddled up in pile of blankets while they watched a weird cartoon something that I paid zero attention to and I read and kind of fell asleep. The next day after pancakes we dropped the off, the mr and I did the chores and then went back over for a little family party for the birthday lady. The mr made spaghetti, Miley and I decorated her cake, then they ate the pasta, then the cake, and then the mr and I peaced out to come home. Straight up, I was feeling way over stimulated from days of human interaction. So I pretty much passed the F out when we got home. I love my family but jeez can they make a lady tired.

Sunday for reals and I am feeling ready. Today is suppose to be another fantastic day, slightly on the chilly side maybe but not raining so that is good. We are heading out for one of the few camps we have left for the year. Zack Pond Woods. A little pond with a couple of undeveloped designated campsites. It is first come, first to use so we are super hoping that we get there and there will be a place available to set up for the night. If not, we might have to boogie over to a campground near by that we have already been too. But I am feeling like there might not be a ton of people trying to camp out on a Sunday night when it is suppose to get into the 30%u2019s overnight and maybe rain the morning. I am ok with all that, especially if that means other people aren%u2019t and leave us be. HA.

Anyway, hope you all are having a grand old weekend and taking in all the fall and focusing on eating all the apples and pumpkins. We know your priorities!

Links to things that I read and looked at n the internet this week.

-Today is National Coffee day!!!!! Everywhere You Can Get Free Coffee for National Coffee Day

–You%u2019ll Be Shocked by How Much Food Americans Waste Each%u00a0Year. Sadly, I was not shocked.

-Fall medicinal shopping list. These to make a syrup for cold and flu, and this for everything. Get it before you need it (and it%u2019s out of stock)

–Tree-Poaching Is On the Rise. What the fuckers. Also, so sad for trees and for the people.

-If telling people a little more gets them to recycle, well tell them what they want to hear! This simple tweak could drastically raise our pathetic recycling rates

–Vegans are more than what they do not eat. Hear Hear!!!!

-Did you know? Peanuts Aren’t Real Nuts (And More Essential Nut Info). Especially good to know when allergies are involved

–Is corn a fruit, a vegetable, or a grain? What were you thinking?

-IF you are going to smoke weed around people, you have to share it. No way around it unless you are an asshole. HA. How to politely smoke weed

–Why Millennials Are Suddenly So Obsessed With Houseplants. I grew up with a million house plants so thats one reason, but also I need real living things around me to feel good feels.

Pictures from the week

I love me some falafel. I love me some peppers. So I guess it is natural that I would want to stuff falafel inside of peppers and eat them all to my face right? I think so.

As we all already know, most of what I cook is depicted by whatever I get at farm share. And the past few weeks we have been getting a lot of peppers. I have been happily eating one or two a day, just as they are, but I figured it was time that I did something else with them. Now what is the first thing that comes to mind with peppers? Stuffed peppers of course. And there you have it, falafel stuffed peppers.

So I am not going to lie and say the mr ate them and swooned. He is not the biggest fan of peppers (I am starting to realize that he doesn%u2019t have all the right taste buds in his mouth. So sad for him.) so he dumped the falafel out of the pepper and ate it with most of the pickled onions, the tahini, and rice. That he really liked. Lucky me, I wanted his pepper anyway because roasted peppers are freaking fantastic amazing and whatever him. Me, as a pepper and falafel lover, I found these stuffed peppers to be everything that I wanted and needed and then some. Eaten pretty much right away warm, with pickled onion and covered in all the tahini, it was a very very satisfying meal. But also a left over stuffed pepper that was stuck in the fridge, eaten cold standing in front of said fridge, right before bed. That was something great as well. I might have even gone in for a second one%u2026%u2026

Anyway, a pepper stuffed with falafel is a good idea if you want food, like peppers, like falafel, and are cool. Just saying.

To the falafel stuffed peppers!

The stuff. A few sweet peppers, some cooked chickpeas, chickpea flour, an onion, a bunch of fresh cilantro and parsley, a few cloves of garlic, red wine vinegar, a little water, tahini, cumin, chili pepper flakes, and salt and pepper.

First, take the onion and cut in half. Take one half and cut into very thin slices, place in a bowl, sprinkle with a pinch of salt and toss with the vinegar and a few tablespoons of water. Set that bowl aside. The other half of onion just cut into a few smaller chunks.

To make falafel. Add the chunks of onion and garlic to food processor and pules a few times to start chopping it up. Add in the cilantro and parsley, the chickpeas and chickpea flour, the cumin and chili pepper flakes, and a good few pinches of salt and lots of pepper. Pulse until completely combined but still a bit chunky. OR pulse until smooth if you would rather it like that. It%u2019s up to you.

Grab peppers and cut each in half. Remove the ribs ad the seeds.

Take falafel mix and stuff it into peppers.

Place peppers onto a baking sheet and into the oven they go.

In the meantime while the peppers are cooking, toss the onions around in the brine a few times. Then right before you take the peppers from the oven, drain the brine from the onions into a jar with the tahini and mix until smooth. Add a splash of water to the mix if you need to loosen it up a bit more to make the consistency of the tahini drizzle-able.

And out they come when all roasted and crispy and my oh my, so good!

Now you eat. Garb a bowl, maybe a grain of some sort if you like (I made the mr rice), plop a pepper down, add some pickled onions and drizzle that tahini all over.

Eat.

-C

Makes 6 half peppers stuffed

• 3 medium sized sweet peppers

• 2 cups cooked and drained chickpeas (or one can)

• 1 large onion

• 1 bunch (about 1/2 cup packed) cilantro

• 1 bunch (about 1/2 cup packed parley

• 2-3 cloves garlic

• 2 teaspoons cumin

• 1 teaspoon chili peper flakes

• 1/3 cup chickpea flour or oat flour if you don%u2019t have chickpea

• salt and pepper

• 1/4 cup tahini

• a few tablespoons water

• 3 tablespoon red wine vinegar

Preheat oven to 425

Grab the onion and cut in half. Take one half and cut into very thin slices and place in a bowl. Spinkle with a pinch of salt and dump in the vinegar along with about 2 tablespoon water. Toss around until all the onion is coated and set aside.

Take remaining half onion and cut into big chunks. Toss into a food processor along with the garlic and pulse a few times until the onion is chopped up. Add in the cilantro, parsley, chickpeas, chickpea flour, cumin, chili pepper flakes, and a good pinch of salt and lots of pepper. Pulse the hole shebang until the mixture is combined, the herbs are incropeted, but there is a little chunk left. Or you could make it smooth if you wanted too. It%u2019s up to you.

Grab the peppers and cut them in half. Remove the ribs and seeds then take the falafel mixture and evenly distribute it between the peppers halves.

Place stuffed peppers on a baking sheet, falafel side up, and place into oven to bake for about 45 minutes. You want the falafel mix to have a chance to cook inside and out and to get nice and golden brown and crispy on top.

Right before the peppers are done, grab the onions and the tahini. Toss the onions one last time in the briny mix it%u2019s been sitting in, then drain that brine into the tahini. Mix around until smooth. The tahini should be at the consistency to drizzle so if it is still to thick, add in a splash of hot water to loosen it up.

Once peppers are cooked, remove fro oven. Place on a plate with or without some grain, toss on some pickled onion and drizzle tahini all over.

Eat.

Store left over peppers in a the fridge. To eat, just reheat or eat cold. I really enjoyed eating one cold.

A lot of times I make food that I don%u2019t nessasrily care to eat because well, I love to make for other people. Take all the cakes, I love to make cake, it makes me so happy to make a cake, but I don%u2019t eat cake. I never eat cake.

This is not one of those times. I basically made these cabbage rolls all for me. Sure I shared them with the mr because it was dinner but honestly, he was%u2019t the biggest fan (he hate celery). And to be honest, I was glad he didn%u2019t really like them because these things were bonkers amazing to me whichh means I got to eat them all myself. In fact I thought they were so good that I made them twice this week. And not just because I have a shit load of cabbage right now, (I stocked up on cabbage and have like 15 heads in the pantry and stuffed in the fridge), although it helped that I do.

I %u2665%ufe0f cabbage.

And now I %u2665%ufe0f these cabbage rolls.

To the rolls!

The stuff. A head of cabbage, a can of butter beans (cooked from dried beans or canned), crushed tomato (also home made or canned), a couple stocks of celery, a carrot, an onion, some garlic, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper, and a little olive oil.

Start by getting the cabbage leaves to roll the filling in. You are basically just going to dunk the whole head of cabbage, with the core removed, into a big pot of boiling water until the outer leaves are tender enough to peel away. You are going to want to 12-14 nice leaves so peel away using tongs. Once you have all the leaves, remove the rest of the cabbage ans place the leaves back into the pot to cook until completely tender and soft. Remove then from the water and place them into a bowl and let them cool.

Meanwhile the filling. Take roughly half of the remaining cabbage and rough chop it up along with the celery, carrot, onion and garlic.

Place it all into food processor and pulse until its a small chunky chunk consistancy.

Add a splash of olive oil to a pan then dump the veggies on in. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and the Italian seasoning then set on a medium heat on the stove to start to cook the veggies a bit.

One the veggies are out and cooking, pulse up the butter beans in the food processor until not quite smooth. Some chunk is good.

Dump the veggies back into the food processor with the beans, along with a little of the crushed tomato. Pulse a few times.

That is the filling. Time to roll.

Pat each leave dry and lay flat on counter. If your cabbage leaves have thick ribs you can slice them down the middle, just not to far up into the leaf. Add about 1/3 of a cup of the filling (add less for smaller leaves) and then roll as tightly as you can like a burrito without the filling coming out. Repeat until all the filling is gone.

Place all of the rolls nice and cozy into a oven safe pan, preferably the pan you have been using to cook the veggies in (you want them to fit close together, it helps then from opening up during cooking ) and cover then all up with crushed tomato.

Now all you need to do is stick the whole thing in the oven.

If you got it, spinkled with some green scallions and parsley for color and flavor and the all you need to do it eat. Eat one or eat them all because they are freaking fantastic!

P.S. Left overs are just as good, if not better cold.

YAY CABBAGE!

Stay cool.

-C

• A medium sized head of cabbage

• 2 cups (or 1 can) cooked butter beans

• an onion

• 1 large carrots

• 2 stalks of celery

• 3 cloves garlic

• 3 1/2 cups crushed tomatoes (or a 28 oz can)

• 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning

• olive oil

• salt and pepper

First thing, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Remove the core from the head of cabbage and place the cabbage head into the boiling water. Gently peal away 12-14 of the outer leaves from the head then remove the head. Place the leaves back into the boiling water until they are soft and plyable. Remove from water and place in a large bowl.

Preheat oven to 400

Rough chop about half of the remaining cabbage head (like a little more then a cup) the carrot, celery, onion, and the garlic and place into a food processor. Pulse until its a small chunk consistency. Add a drizzle of olive oil to a skillet (if you can, use a oven safe skillet the can also be used to bake the rolls in) and dump the veggies in. Sprinkle with the Italian seasoning, salt and pepper, and place on a medium heat to cook for a few minutes. While the veggies are cooking, drain the beans and dump them into the food processsor. Pulse until not quite smooth. After the veggies have started to become fragrant and are not completely raw, dump those veggies back into the food processor with the beans. Add about 1/3 cup of the crushed tomato and pulse until combined.

To assemble the rolls. Pat the leaves dry and lay flat. If a leaf has a really thick rib, cut it down the middle, but not to far up the leaf.. Place about 1/3 cup of filling into each leaf (less if the leaves are small) and roll each one up like a burrito, as tight as you can without ripping the cabbage. Place rolls into oven safe skillet, bumped up against each other if they can. Once all the rolls are assembled and in skillet, pour the crushed tomatoes all over, getting the sauce in between each of the rolls.

And then place the rolls into oven to bake for an hour.

Once the rolls looked cooked and maybe a little crisp on an edge or two, remove and let cool a few minutes before serving.

Chopped parsley and scallions are nice to sprinkle on top if you got it.

Eat, and eat some more. Any left over should be placed into the fridge and eaten just a short few hours later cold, while standing in from of the fridge because these cold are almost better then hot. So good!

Pineapples have been on sale all week long. I think it’s because Easter and I guess people need pineapples for Easter for some reason. Does Pineapple have anything to do with bunnies or Jesus? I think not. Pretty sure it has something to do with cake or ham or some shit, but I honestly don’t care because I just like the fact that I can buy a few (like 3)%u00a0pineapples without breaking the bank.%u00a0(I think I am going to buy 3 more for the dehydrator) Plus it is always good to have a pineapple or 3 on the counter at home. You never know when you are going to need one.%u00a0So lets give a shout out to the Easter bunny and %u00a0Jesus. Thanks for the cheap pineapples.%u00a0%u00a0HA!

So now you are have those pineapples, you are going want to eat them. And maybe you don’t want to eat them with cake or ham or some shit. You are going to want to eat it the best way…In a stir fry.%u00a0

This is by far one of my favorite stir fry combinations. Pineapple does amazing things when cooked a bit, especially with soy, broccoli,%u00a0and tofu. This dish definitely let’s pineapple reach it’s full pineapple potential. It is so good that tI think I might even prefer my pineapple cooked along with savory stuff. It is just so right and seriously so freaking good. The mr even get excited for it and he is not the excitable kind of guy.%u00a0Plus it’s fast (especially if you have already cut up your pineapple) and easy because stir fry and that’s what stir fries are. Fast and easy, just like……….(insert your favorite fast and easy person and then chuckle)

And don’t try to use canned pineapple because no.%u00a0%u00a0Just get the fresh one,even if it’s not on sale.%u00a0It’s a must.%u00a0

The stuff. A pineapple (you are only going to need 1/3 of this, but you can never have too much fresh pineapple on hand), a big head of broccoli, a little cabbage, and some firm tofu. %u00a0Also need some soy, a few cloves of garlic, a little fresh ginger, a bit of oil, and pepper.%u00a0

Dice up the tofu into cubes and place on a clean dish towel to absorb some moisture.%u00a0

Grab the fresh pineapple. Cut it up the way you do, but the easiest way %u00a0for me is to cut in half the cut that half into fourths then cut the skin away. You are going to have a lot of extra pineapple so snack as you need too. I always eat like half of what I am cutting up and end up with pineapple gut. SO maybe watch yourself.%u00a0%u00a0

Pour some soy into a cup and mince the garlic and ginger.%u00a0

Garlic, ginger, soy. Looking good.

Cut up about 2ish (or more if you want) pineapple into small mouth sized pieces. Break Broccoli head into small florets and shredded the cabbage.%u00a0

Tofu into a lightly oiled hot skillet with a splash of soy, cooked until a nice crisp brown on all sides.%u00a0%u00a0Once it is cooked, remove from pan and set aside.

It’s the broccolis turn. Add in the florets and a splash of water to start cooking down for a few minutes, it need the head start.%u00a0

Once the broccoli turns bright green and is slightly less raw, add in the pineapple and cook until the broccoli is slightly tender and the pineapple starts to caramalize which will take about 5-7 minutes.%u00a0

Add the tofu back in along with the shredded cabbage and dump the soy ginger garlic mixture all over.. Keep cooking and stirring around until everything is hot and the liquid has mostly been absorbed.%u00a0

That’s some stir fry ladies and gentlemen.%u00a0

You might want some rice to accompany your stir fry so think about it and have it ready. Other then that, it’s food to face time.%u00a0

Enjoy the best stir fry ever.%u00a0

Bye.

-C

serves 2

• 1/3 of a fresh pineapple (about 2 cups cubed)
• 1/2 %u00a0block firm tofu
• a large head of broccoli (about 2 1/2-3 cups of florets)
• 1/4 head of red or green cabbage (about a cup shredded)
• 2-3 cloves garlic
• 3 tablespoons soy or tamari
• 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
• pepper
• Cooked rice to serve with (Optional)

Cube tofu into 1 inch pieces and either place on a dry towel to absorb the moisture or place the tofu into the microwave and heat for 2 minutes. When you take it out of the microwave there will be a lot of liquid…pour it off and pat the tofu dry.%u00a0

Cube fresh pineapple into similar sized pieces and break broccoli into small florets. Shred cabbage.%u00a0

Mince garlic and add to a bowl or jar with the grated ginger and soy sauce.%u00a0

Place a large skillet on the stove an medium heat. Drizzle in a little olive oil. Once oil is hot, place the tofu in with a splash of soy, cooking until all sides are a nice dark browned. Remove the tofu from pan and add the in the broccoli. Add a splash of water and cook for 5 minutes. Then add in the pineapple and cook for another 5-7 minutes or until the pineapple starts to caramelize and the broccoli os no longer raw.%u00a0%u00a0Add the tofu back in along with the shredded cabbage and pour the soy garlic ginger mixture all over. Sprinkle with pepper to taste.%u00a0Cook for another 5 minutes or until the liquid has cooked down.%u00a0

Serve with rice or quinoa and extra soy if needed.

Casseroles are a winter staple. So versatile, easy to make, can feed a few or feed a crowd, and best part is you can stick one into the oven and and kind of forget about it for a while. On a cold day having the oven on is always welcome, and timing with these things, well you can keep it in the oven for a little while longer then it needs because the worst thing that will happen is that it will get a little more crispy, and that is only an added bonus because the crispy bits are the best.%u00a0%u00a0And what I really love about casseroles is left overs. If you are smart you make it bigger then needed so you have some left over to either eat the next day or freeze for a meal later. Leftover casseroles are the best.%u00a0

This casserole is a nice, hearty,%u00a0stick toy your bone with our feeling heavy and gross casserole. Coconut milk and butternut squash give a creaminess, chickpeas for protein and goodness, kale because, and hazelnuts for a nice yummy crunch. All the flavors pair well together and also pair well with many different types of seasonings. I was going to go curry, then I was thinking rosemary, but ended up keeping it simple without any spices which was really nice because the flavors were all rich and clean. But really, you could go a bunch of different ways with this because its a casserole and thats what casserole do.%u00a0

The stuff. You will need a can of chickpeas, a can of coconut milk (I used light coconut), some kale, an onion, and a butternut squash (you will only need about 3 -ish cups cubed so your squash doesn’t need to be as big as mine was). Also need some garlic, raw hazelnuts, olive oil, coconut flour, and salt and pepper%u00a0

Start by chopping the onion into small pieces and mincing the garlic. Add to a big pot with a little olive oil and get it on a medium heat to start to cook it all down.%u00a0

While the onions and garlic are cooking,%u00a0%u00a0cube the squash. You probably only need the neck, so cut the bottom off (save for later) and peel the skin (also save for later , for soup or stock). Cut the peeled squash into mouth sized cubes.%u00a0

And by the time you are done with the squash, the onion and garlic have had enough time cooking. Add in the can of coconut milk and the coconut flour. Stir in the flour and bring the pot to a boil, then turn heat down to medium again and let cook for a few minutes until it starts to thicken a bit.

Remove from heat and add in the squash, the chickpeas, and salt and pepper. Mix it all around.

Pour directly into the casserole dish filled with kale and give that all a good mix around.

Level it all out and top with the chopped hazelnuts. %u00a0Now into the oven it goes.%u00a0

And hour or so later, you have yourself a casserole ready for for your face.

Grab a bowl and dig on in.

-C

P.S. We realized as we are eating that a really goof vinegary hot sauce or lime juice are perfect addition to this dish. So do that.%u00a0

serves 3-5

• 1 can light coconut milk
• 1 can chick peas drained%u00a0
• 3 ish cups cubed butternut squash
• 1/2 bundle of kale (like 5 big handfuls chopped up)
• 1/2 cup chopped raw hazelnuts
• 1 onion
• 2 tablespoons coconut flour ( can sub regular flour)
• 4-5 cloves garlic
• olive oil
• salt and pepper%u00a0
• Either vinegary hot sauce or a lime wedges (optional for serving)

preheat oven to 375

Start by chopping the onion into small pieces and mincing the garlic. Add to a large pot with a tablespoon of olive oil and place on a medium heat to start cooking.%u00a0

While the onions are going, peel and dice your squash. The easiest way to do this is to cut the neck off and then peel that. (save the peels and the base for soup) Dice the peeled squash into mouth sized cubes and set aside.

Once the onions are lightly cooked, whisk in the canned coconut milk and the coconut flour. Bring mixture to a boil then return to a medium heat. Cook for about 5 minutes or until the milk starts to thicken a bit. Add in the squash, the chick peas, and a teaspoon of salt and pepper. Mix together. Add in the chopped up kale and mix that it then dump it all into 3 quart casserole dish. Level it out and top with the chopped hazelnuts. Place the casserole into the oven and bake for 1 hour ( or a little longer for the crispier crunchy parts.%u00a0

Once you remove from oven, let sit for 5-10 minutes to set up and then call it ready.%u00a0

Serve with hot sauce and or lime wedges.

Any left over is great for a meal %u00a0within then next few days or frozen for a meal down the road%u00a0

Every year I look forward to St Patrick’s day.. And not because I am Irish, (which I am) or because I want to drink on excess (which I do not) and no,%u00a0 green eggs and ham are not something that I plan on making. No Ido not look forward to any of those things (although I actually do like to pinch the littles that wear no green and talk about pots of gold and rainbows) I love this time of year because cabbage is always on a freaking super sale everywhere you go.%u00a0 Something that is usually 80-99 cents a pound goes down to like 20 cents a pound. And for someone that eats like 10 heads of cabbage a week, this is a hug savings. SO yeah, I buy so so much (I have already bought 12 heads, but I actually plan on buying a full case before the sale is over)

No, I am not crazy, I will eat it all….. and I am going to be making so much sauerkraut. Woo hoo!

But until then. A cabbage pot roast. Yes. I remember growing up my mom would make pot roasts once in a while. A big pot full of big chunks of veggies topped with a big slab of some kind of meat. I never liked the meat, but I always loved the big chunks of the veggies at the bottom of the pot. So I figured I would make a big pot roast, replace the meat with a head of cabbage (I have so much) and add beans because protein and because they are just so good. . And when it’s all cooked and said and done, you end up with a big pot of plump and so flavorful veggies and beans and the most tender wedged of roasted braised cabbage.%u00a0 This is my kind of pot roast.

Now go quick.. the cabbage sales will be over soon.

The stuff. One good sized head of cabbage, a few carrots, a big onion, and a hunk of rutabaga. Also have some dried kidney beans, caraway and fennel seeds, dried ground mustard, a bay leaf, some garlic, and salt and pepper. And water… water is needed.

Note. You can use just caraway or just fennel and you can replace or even add a potato in place of the rutabaga.

Dried beans, fennel and caraway into a pot with water. Stick the pot on the stove ans bring to a boil, then to a simmer to give the beans a quick head start before going into the oven.

While the beans are simmering, dice up the garlic and chop up the veggies into big chunks… you don’t want small chunks or they will kind of turn to mush while cooking.

And turn over the cabbage head, take a knife, and slice a deep x into the core. DO THIS or else the inside of the cabbage will not cook through. Oh and preheat the oven to 375.

Beans looking a bit plumped..

Top those beans with all the chopped veggies,(don’t stir them in., you want to keep the bean under submerged in the water) sprinkle those with the mustard, salt and pepper and place that lovely cabbage head right on top…

Place a lid on the pot and slide it into the oven to cook away. It’s going to take a bit of time (about an hour) but it’s pretty much hands off. Just take a look after about 45 minutes, check the bean doneness, add in another cup or so of water and place lid bacck on and cook for another 12-20 minutes until the beans are done. When they are, take the lid off, crank the oven to 450 and cook for another 15 or so minutes until the cabbage gets all golden brown

Look at that… Tender roasted veggies, plump beans. Everything about this is right.

Grab a knife and cut the cabbage (its so tender) into big wedges.

A wedge into a bowl along with a big spoonful or two of the beans and veggies..

Finished with a dash of salt and pepper and (not shown here,) lots of mustard.. Oh cabbage… you are so good!

Eat away and Happy St Patrick’s Day.

-C

serves 3-4

• 1 cup dried kidney beans
• 3-4 cups water
• a medium sized head of cabbage
• 2-3 carrots
• 1 large onion
• %u00a0a potato or a a small rutabaga(or both)
• 1 heaping teaspoon caraway seeds
• 1 heaping teaspoon fennel seeds
• 1 heaping teaspoon ground mustard
• a bay leaf
• salt and pepper

Place the fennel, the caraway, and the bay leaf into a large dutch oven along with the dried beans and 3 cups of water. Place on the stove and being to a boil then, turn heat to low and simmer the beans for about 15 minutes.

While beans are simmering, chop up the carrot, onion and rutabaga into big chunks and dice up the garlic. Take head of cabbage and slice a deep x into the core.

Preheat oven to 375

Once the beans have simmered a bit, add in the chunks of veggies, the ground mustard and salt and pepper (Don’t stir, you want to keep the bean submerged in the water). Place the head of cabbage right on top of the veggies and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Place a lid on the pot and stick the whole thing into the oven. After about 45 minutes, check the roast and the beans for doneness and adding in another cup of water id needed. Back into oven with the lid for another 15-20 minutes or until the beans are tender Onnce they are, remove the lid form the pot and crank the oven up to 425. Cook for another 15 minutes or so until the cabbage turns a nice golden brown.

Remove from oven, let cool for a few minutes, cut the cabbage head into wedges and serve it up with big spoonfuls of beans and veggies.

Eat until your full.

.

Are you ready for this weekend? You know what’s coming right? Yup, another arctic blast. -30 degree temperatures, windchill warnings and local news forecasters warning of dangerously cold conditions. “Don’t go outside , your face will freeze off”

Oh yeah, and Valentine Day.

What are your thoughts on the V day? The mr and I, well we could kind of care less, but at the same time, we like the excuse to spend the day together, traditionally going for a hike with the pup (not this year… we would die) and just spending the day together being sweet (pretty much the same way we spend any days off together) We don’t get fancy with dinner dates or overly large stuffed animals. No boxes of chocolate, bottles of champagne or fancy undies.%u00a0 We keep it caj, maybe a sweet hand made card covered in glitter (never a store bought.) a stop for a good cup of coffee and an afternoon trip to the plant store to by a new pretty house plant (1. I really hate red roses and 2. I would much rather get a house plant then flowers that will die) But honesty, we just use V day as an excuse to not work and spend the day together, being left alone, eating whatever we want and doing whatever fun stuff we want.

This dish was kinda inspired by being so pretty bright pink, but also it was just what I wanted to eat for dinner. Spaghetti squash doesn’t get as much play as it should. Sure it’s not the most sweet and nutty of the squashes, but it has a really nice subtle flavor that makes it a fantastic base for pretty much anything. And the beet sauce. Again, it’s such a pretty color, but beside that, I can’t get enough of them. I love me some roasted beets (way better then any chocolate or sweet treat)

I could lie to you and say that this is the dish that I will be making for me and the mr on Valentines day, but no,this dish already happened this week and the mr got into it, but would rather eat his favorite meal (pizza) for dinner.%u00a0 And I will be eating the left over beet sauce with carrot sticks (this beet sauce id for real.. topped with a little yellow mustard… I could eat it for life)%u00a0 then make a hugmongo batch of popcorn covered in peanut butter. We wiil sit on he couch and watch a lot of Netflix (still working my way through the fresh prince) and maybe a cute Wes Anderson movie. I will be in bed by 9.

But don’t mind us old folks here. Go for it. Do up the Valentines Day. Make a pretty dish of food for your sweetheart, or if alone, make it for yourself, especiallyif you are hanging by your lonesome. Valentinesday is about being happy and this dish will make you happy, whether or not you plan on sharing it.

The stuff. One spaghetti squash big enough for at least 2 people (I love left overs so maybe big enough for 4), 2 largish beets, a a small onion. Also grab a clove of garlic of 4, a lemon, the salt and pepper, and some olive oil. Optional, but a very nice addition is a handful of tasted walnuts.

Quick and crank up the oven (make sure you take out the cast iron you left in there from last night), then stick the squash, beets and onion into the hot oven to roast. I stuck them all on a baking sheet and left them completely whole, but if you want, you could chop the beet and onion into chunks and drizzle with oil or you could wrap the beets in foil and bake them that way but really, why go through all that when you can just not? And don’t bother peeling them.(unless you think you must.. but you really really don’t need too)

And same for the squash. You could cut in half and roast it that way, but again, why when you don’t need to.

So anyway, roast the beets and onion until fork tender. And the squash as well (check by stabbing with a fork) All my stuff roasted up pretty much perfectly at the exact same time, but it really depends on the size of your stuff. So check after 40ish minutes.

And once you pull that roasted stuff from the oven, let it cool just enough where you can handle it. Chop the onion into a couple chunks, the beets into smaller chunks and slice the squash in half length wise and set aside.

Grab a blender and toss in the onion, beets the juice of the lemon (start with half) apinch of salt, a few pinches of pepper, and a clove or 2 of garlic (ok, I love raw garlic and used a lot. If you do not like the taste of raw garlic, just toss it with a little oil and stick into the oven with the beets for about 10 minutes. Or you could omit the garlic entirely)

Once all the stuff is in the blender, turn it on. Drizzle in about a tablespoon or two of olive oil and blend until a nice smooth sauce has formed. Taste, season with more salt and pepper if needed. Add the other half of lemon if you think it needs it. You can also add a bit of water to thin it out more.. if you want

So now the squash should be cool enough to handle. Scoop out the seeds and with a fork, scrape up into spaghetti!

Heaps of squash go into bowls then topped with a generous mound of beet sauce. Topped with some roughly chopped toasted walnuts, a sprinkle of pepper and some bits of green stuff (I just diced up some kale)

Look at that. So pretty, so pink and all ready to go. Dinner for 2 with a good bit of left overs for later!

Happy weekend! And Happy Valentines Day if you do it, or if you don’t!

-C

makes 3-4 servings

• 1 medium sized spaghetti squash
• 2 large beets
• 1 small onion
• 1 lemon
• 2-4 cloves garlic
• handful of toasted walnuts (optional)
• olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste

Note. You might want to thin out sauce out a bit without the use of a ton of oil. Go ahead and add a little water. Also, I used raw garlic in mine, but some people might not like it raw. Just toss a few cloves of garlic in a bit of oil and stick into the oven for 10-15 minutes with the other stuff to give it a little roast. OR just omit.

Preheat oven to 425.

Stick the onion, beets and squash onto a baking sheet, drzzle the beet and onion with a tiny bit of oil and stick the sheet into the oven. Roast everything until fork tender which should take around 45-50 minutes. (depending on the size of your produce, some thing might take longer or shorter, so just check after 40ish minutes)

Once everything is roasted, let the beets and onion cool just enough to handle and cut into chunks and toss into a blender. Add in the garlic, the juice of the lemon, a few drizzles of olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper. Now turn blender on and blend until smooth.

And the squash. Cut the thing in half and remove the seeds.%u00a0 Then with a fork, scrap the squash from the skin into spaghetti like strands.

Place squash into bowls, sprinkle with salt and pepper, add a drizzle of oil if you want and top with a good hearty heap of beet sauce. Top with more cracked pepper and a few chopped walnuts and maybe add a little something green, you know, to make it pretty.

Serve warm with love and a fork.. your lips might turn pink with beet love.

Once in a while I make a dinner that the mr does not want to eat, like anything with too much corn or things made with lots of vinegar… not his taste. Don’t get me wrong, most of the time, he will eat what I make (casue he loves me) but he clearly doesn’t really like it. And that’s when pup usually gets left over for dinner. (He always likes everything that I cook)

One of those things that I know the mr doesn’t like are beets. Sure, he will eat things that has a few beets in it, but once he found out that this casserole starred beets, his eyes widened and he looked worried, like “oh great, but please don’t make me eat this”. Not to worry. He was getting pasta for dinner because this casserole was not for him. It was for me. It has everything that I love in the word (food wise ) tossed together and baked into a pretty skillet, just for me. Plus the beets, sweet potato and kale were the last from the farm share.%u00a0 So it was my good by farm food, casserole of greatness. And I didn’t want to share.

So yeah, if you are not a fan of beets, or any of the other stuff in this casserole for that matter, then don’t make it. But if you are awesome and know the greatness of the beet, especially paired with lentils and sweet potato, well I suggest you go and make this right away. And bonus… it’s super healthy and hardy which make for a great dinner on a cold night and after all the holiday food last week.%u00a0

The stuff. A large sweet potato, a couple of big beets and some dried lentils.%u00a0 Gonna want some veggies, like an onion, carrots, cabbage and kale. Also want garlic, some salt and pepper, water and tiny bit of olive oil.

First thing first, get the beets and the sweet potato in a pot to boil* Just dice then up and toss into a pot with enough water to submerge the roots. Sprinkle in a bit of water ad bring to a boil, stick a lid on pot, and turn hat to medium.%u00a0

*Note. I boiled my beets and sweet potato in one pot because well, I just didn’t want to have one more pot to wash. But if you do this, your sweet potato will turn slightly pink, whichI think is really pretty. If you want your sweet potato puree to look orange, gonna have to dirty another pot and boil the beets separately.

And chop up our veggies and mince the garlic. Drizzle a tiny amount of oil into a skillet or pot, toss in veggies (minus the kale) and cook on medium heat just until they start to soften a tiny bit. Once the veggies are cooked, remove them from heat, add in chopped kale, and set aside.

And make your lentils. (i used the pot I just cooked the veggies in. The less dishes the better!) Water and lentils into pot with a pinch of salt, bring to boil, cover and place on low until lentils are tender.

When the beets and sweet potato are fork tender, drain water into a jar and separate the beets from the potato (if you boiled them together). Blend the beets then the sweet potato until it%u2019s the consistency that you would enjoy eating it (I like a little bit of chunk, not completely smooth) Use the drained water to thin out as much as you need/want.

All the stuff ready to compile.

Grab the cooked veggies and toss them into a oven safe skillet or casserole dish and mix together with the lentils. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Now evenly spread the beet puree on top of the veggies

Then ever so gently, spread the sweet potato on top of that.

Give the top a good pinch of salt and pepper and stick the thing into the oven.

Remove from oven when the sweet potato has browned andis slightly crispy.

And scoop a big old scoop into a bowl, grab a fork, and stuff your face!

Happy today day!

-C

Remove from oven, let cook for a few minutes then eat it with a fork, a spoon, or your fingers.

Beet Sweet Potato and Lentil Casserole

Make 3-4 servings (or one serving for me!)

• 1 large sweet potato
• 2 medium beets
• 1 cup cried lentils
• 2 cups water
• 3-4 cloves garlic
• a medium yellow onion
• 2 carrots
• %u00bc head of cabbage
• a few kale leaves
• salt and pepper
• olive oil

Note.. I did not add extra seasoning to this because I love the taste just as it is. But if you are feeling like it needs some seasoning, just add some in.

Start by chopping the beets and sweet potato into medium sized chunks and boiling them until they are fork tender. You can do this either in two separate pots or in one large pot. (if in one pot, the sweet potato will turn a little pink)

Once those are boiling, chop up all the veggies (not the kale yet) and the garlic and toss into a pot or skillet with a drizzle of olive oil and cook on medium heat until the veggies are slightly tender. Remove from heat, add in chopped kale and set aside.

And make the lentils ( I cooked the veggies in the pot, removed them ans used the pot to make the lentils… less dishes). Dump the 2 cups water, a pinch of salt, and the lentils into a pot.%u00a0 Bring to boil, cover, then turn heat to low. Cook for about 20 minutes until the lentil are tender.

Preheat oven to 400

Once everything is cooked and ready to go, dump the lentils and the veggies into oven safe skillet or casserole dish and mix around. Take beet puree and spread evenly over the mixture. Then do the same with the sweet potato puree. %u00a0Sprinkle the top with salt and pepper and stick the casserole into the oven to bake until the top is all browned and slightly crunchy (about 30 minutes)

Remove from the oven, let it cool for a few minutes, then eat it. Fork, spoon, or your fingers work.

Last week pineapples were on sale everywhere%u2026%u2026So I bought 5. Don’t judge%u00a0

And I bet I am not the only one that got overly excited at $1.50 pineapple and bough themselves a few. We will just call ourselves opportunists. %u00a0Now we have plenty of pineapples and don’t have to pay %u00a0the $4 a piece prices. (Justification) %u00a0

But if you don’t have a pineapple laying around, you must go get one. (Maybe if your lucky, there might still be some sales going on) because you must make this salad. I am on a mission to make everyone I know eat it because, for lake of a better way to say it%u2026%u2026.It will rock your world.

Dill and pineapple are a serious match made in heaven. Pineapple, with its sweet, tangy, citrusness %u00a0and dill with it’s super fresh earthiness. Mixed together with a few other helpers to create a fresh, clean, chunky, tangy, over the top, flavor. I could stop right there, but toss in a handful of lentils, some creamy avocado and a bed of kale%u2026It’s like the best spring time, celebration on you tongue, happiness in you tummy, kind of salad.

A salad that will make you smile. (and maybe buy %u00a05 pineapples)%u00a0

%u00a0Stuff for the goodness. We got the kale, some avocado because all salads should have avocado and some cooked lentils because, well, all salads should have lentils (or beans or nuts.. so you could totally something else) Then a few sprigs of fresh dill, a clove of garlic, red wine vinegar, salt and a bowl of chunked up pineapple.%u00a0The pineapple, dill, garlic, red wine vinegar, a splash of water and a pinch of salt get blended in a blender or whatever blending device you use. Go as smooth or chunky as you like, I recommend going smooth, but leaving a little chunk, like half blended.

The prep is done, now compile. %u00a0Kale in bowl, top with lentils,. Toss on avocado chunks, and, last but not least, the blended pineapple dill mixture.So good%u2026%u2026So so good.

Happy Friday!!

-C

So Good Pineapple Dill Kale Salad

Serves Two

• 3 cups washed and chopped Kale
• 1/2 a avocado, diced
• 1 cup fresh pineapple chunks
• 1-2 springs fresh dill
• 1 tablespoon Red Wine Vinegar
• Salt%u00a0
• 1/2 cup cooked lentils%u00a0(or any bean or nut will do)

Note. No fresh dill? You can use dried, just sub in 1 teaspoon for the fresh and after blending with the pineapple, let sit a little longer to really let the flavors meld together.%u00a0

Place pineapple, dill, pinch of salt, vinegar and garlic into a blender or whatever you own that blends and blend stuff together, leaving it a little chunky. Let sit for 5-10 minutes.

Kale goes into a bowl and add the lentils and diced avocado. Pour the blended pineapple on. Toss around.%u00a0

Now eat.

It is exactly that time of year. Apples galore, cool days in need of a little extra warm, meaning a warm oven is welcome, if not needed. It%u2019s the best time of year, or at least one of them.

And so I bake bread. Sometimes just a roll, and sometime a loaf, almost everyday. I love bread baking because, well just because. Plus it%u2019s what people want to eat and will always eat because I guess bread=love. Makes sense to me.

This bread was made from a small dip in the 2 gallons of applesauce I made the night before. (We had sooooo many apples). The mr isn%u2019t the biggest fan of applesauce, says he would rather eat a fresh apple. I kind of get it, but dude, warm, chunky, slightly cinnamon-y applesauce%u2026 I mean, that is happiness right there. Right? Anyway, I am trying not to eat all the applesauce to my face by myself at once (it has been a challenge) and plus I needed to make the mr some bread, so I figured what the hell. I%u2019ll just use applesauce as my liquid in the bread. And so I did and that is that and now that mr really like applesacue (when it is baked into bread)

This bread is a basic sandwich type bread. The apple taste is there but not overwhelming so it can be used for sandwiches of all kinds, toast, just eating with a smear od something, or not. Just a overall good loaf of bread with a little extra from the apple. And braided because I was feeling classy. It%u2019s amazing what at little braiding of bread dough can do for your self esteem. Made me feel like I was the coolest person in the world. Haha!

Now to the bread.

The stuff. A few apples, regular all purpose and white whole wheat flour, salt, applesauce, maple syrup, yeast, and warm water.

Applesauce, shredded apple, maple, yeast, and a little water get mix up and let to sit for a few minutes to activate yeast. Then the salt gets mixed in, along with all the flour. Stir until dough forms. Dough should be slightly sticky, ut not wet. IF wet, add a handful more flour. To dry, add more water.

Dump the dough onto a floured surface, cover your hands in flour, and knead dough for about 5 or so minutes, adding more flour as needed to keep dough from sticking, until the dough is a nice and cohesive texture.

Nice looking dough. Now roll dough into a ball.

Place dough in a clean wet or oiled bowl and cover with a damp cloth for one to one and a half hours or until dough doubles in size.

Dump dough onto floured surface.

Cut dough into 3 equal pieces and roll out into long longs.

Braid logs together. You can stop here bake it this way or%u2026

After placing it on a parchment lined baking sheet, tuck the ends of the braids underneath each other and make it like this. Either way. And once you have the dough on the baking sheet, brush a little water or plant milk on top and let dough rest for 15 minutes of so while the oven preheats.

Before oven and after oven. Classy, right?

Then for shin and soft crust, rub warm loaf with some plant butter.

And for the hard part. Let it cool before slicing it. Ok sure, a little warm is fine, but wait at least 20 minutes (an hour would be best) and then eat you some bread.

Eat you some bread. That%u2019s a t-shirt right there.

Happy Fall friends!

-C

makes pretty one loaf

• 2 cups all purpose flour

• 1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour plus more for kneading

• 1 cup unsweetened room temperature applesauce

• 1 large or 2 small apples ( about 2/3 cup shredded apple)

• 1/4- 1/2 cup warm water

• 1 tablespoon maple syrup or honey

• 2 teaspoons active yeast

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 tablespoon or so plant milk or water

• 1 tablespoon plant based butter (optional for rubbing on finished bread)

Grab the apples and shred them until you have 2/3 cup shredded apple. In a large bowl, mix together the applesauce, shredded apples, yeast, 1/4 cup warm water, and sweetener.and let yeast activate for a few minutes. Add in salt, the all purpose flour and the 1 1/2 cups white wheat flour. Stir together until dough forms. The dough should be a little bit sticky so if the dough seems to dry, add in 1/4 cup more warm water. If it seems really wet, add in a handful more flour.

Dump dough out onto a well floured surface and knead for about 5 minutes adding a little bit of flour to the counter as needed to prevent it from sticking. Once dough is cohesive in texture, roll into a ball and place into a clean wet or oiled bowl. Cover with a damp towel and allow the dough to double in size. Should take between an hour and an hour and a half.

Once dough doubles in size preheat oven to 400

Dump risen dough back onto a well flour counter. Cut the dough into 3 equal sizes and roll each piece into long logs about 20 inches or so long. Place each roll next to each other and braid. Grab a baking sheet and line with a piece of parchment paper. Sprinkle with a bit of flour and place braided dough onto sheet, either as a braid or if you want, like I did, wrap the braid around itself into a rounded braid situation. Tuck ends into each other and under the loaf. Brush the top gently with a little plant milk or water and let rest for about another 15 minutes or so.

After the rest, place dough into preheated oven. Bake for 35-45 minutes (Less if left long braid, more if wrapped braid) or until the top is a deep golden brown and when tapped on the bottom, it sounds hollow. Also can use an insta read thermometer and check temperature. You want it to reach 190 degrees.

Once bread is baked, remove from oven. If you want the top to stay a little crispy, don%u2019t do anything but let it cool. For a softer, shinny crust, rub the top while it is still warm with some plant based butter.

Let bread cool completely before cutting.

Then eat it like you would eat bread. Any and every way.

Store cooled loaf in a airtight bag on counter for 2-3 days but if not eating that fast, slice and place into freezer. That way you can pull out individual pieces and toast as you want.

What do you do when you have a bazillion ripe bananas? A sweet banana bread? Banaer ice cream? Mash them up in your oatmeal? These are what I usually do, well these things and just stock my freezer full of bananas because I am pretty sure that there should always be bananas in the freezer. .

I went grocery shopping and bought like a billion bananas because they were dirt cheap (19 cents a pound) and why not. There is plenty of room in the freezer.

And it was a bread making day. I wanted to make bread that involved a good knead, that the mr could have as a sandwich loaf, and that had bananas in it. (I love adding fruit and veggie purees to breads) I needed a multi functional loaf that can be used for toast and sandwiches. So I made it.

This bread doesn’t have a crazy powerful banana flavor, just a light bananerness that adds a touch of sweetness and yum to the bread. Perfect for slices and slathering with peanut butter.

Pretty sure I scored on this one. It was well loved by many and eaten within days. Lucky for the mr I have a billion bananas.

The stuff. Some all purpose flour and some whole wheat (with germ) flour. A couple really ripe bananas, a little earth balance, salt, yeast, and water.

Peel and blended bananas into a smooth banana puree.

Add enough water to the bananas to make 2 cups of liquid.%u00a0 Add in the yeast and earth balance and blend that in too.

Wet gets dumped and mixed into the (mixed) flours and salt.

Wet shaggy dough gets dumped onto the floured counter and kneaded for about 10 minutes into a nice uniform and smooth ball

Once risen twice it’s size, dump dough onto counter, shape into a log and place into a well greased loaf pan. Cover with plastic or wax paper and set to rise again. Second rise will take a little less time then the first, just wait for the dough to dome over the sides of the pan.

Once it looks good, stick the thing into a preheated oven, close the door, and watch it bake (for about 50 minutes)

Golden brown, hollow sounding, and the instant read thermometer reads 190….Bread is all baked.Now hard part. Let that loaf sit and cool completely. (trust, it needs to cool or you will just mush it)

Now that its cooled, you slice and eat. A loaf of bread with a slight hint of banana ready for you face.

The mr has been eating it toasted with peanut butter like I predicted or dipping it into his split pea soup. (he really liked it with the soup) Just suggestions.

Bye.

-C

makes one loaf

• 2 1/4 to 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 cup whole wheat with bran flour (plus a little more for kneading)
• 2 rip bananas
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons yeast (or 1 packet)
• 2 teaspoons earth balance (or butter)
• 1- 1/12 cups warm water

Peel bananas and blend them into a smooth puree. Add enough warm water to the banana mixture to equal 2 cups of liquid. Add the yeast and earth balance to the puree and mix until fully incorporated. Let sit for a few minutes to active yeast.

Whisk together the flours (start with the lesser amount) and salt in a large bowl. Dump the wet mixture into the bowl and mix together with a dough whisk or wooden spoon until you can no longer mix. If the dough is really wet, add in the other 1/4 of flour. Dump dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead dough for about 10 minutes.

Place in a clean greased bowl and cover with plastic or wax paper and a towel and place in a warm place to rise. Depending on how warm your place is, it will take about 1 to 1 1/2 hours to double in size. Once risen, dump onto counter, shape into a log and place into a greased loaf pan. Cover again with plastic or wax paper and set to rise again for about 1/2- 45 minutes or until the dough forms a dome over the pan.

Preheat oven to 350.

When dough is done second rise, stick it into the preheated oven and bake. It should be in there for about 50 minutes, but check at 45 for a deep golden color and a internal temperature of 190. Once done, remove from oven, gently remove from pand and set on a wire rack to cool completely.

Once cooled you can go for it.

Stay fresh for about 3 days in a air tight container, but I would slice and freeze any if not gone by then.

Not just sweater weather, which it had been all week and I am LOVING IT, but it%u2019s lamp light weather too. I forgot that I had all these fantastic lights around my house and yesterday when it was dark out at 6 (it was raining so the sky was cloudy) I got to turn on a couple lamps that haven%u2019t had any action in months. It was soooo nice and cozy. This my friends, this is the best time of year!

Camping last week was great and not so great. The campground was pretty, but our fellows campers were very rawdy and loud and there was a party at the picnic pavilion that had a shitty classic rock cover band playing. The noisy people and shitty music echoed through the park for longer then anyone should have had to deal with it. But I guess that happens, especially on a long holiday weekend. And really, besides the buttheads, we had fun. We went for a nice hike through the woods and into giant fields of wildflowers and goldenrod then spent some great time in the kayaks on a nearby lake (away from all the people). Plus after eating dinner and then packing it in for the night, we didn%u2019t get soaking wet, which we could tell by the many car doors slamming and people screaming at 1am , a good few people did. Our tent stayed nice and dry inside and we even managed to stay dry when we got out of the tent and and realized it was sitting in a giant puddle. We even managed to stayed pretty dry packing up and getting on our way home, in the rain! It%u2019s because we are good at coming I guess.

Then the rest of the week came and went in a fast blur. Mostly some same. Had lunch with Barb, cleaned apartments for new tenants,, made cards for artwork, picked up farm share, and you know, other life stuff. I have been busy in the kitchen harvesting garden food and canning or freezing it as well. Trying to stock up on as much food as I can for the winter. Then the littles slept over Friday. We watched Dumb and Dumber and I fell asleep on the couch. Woke up made waffles (I was so excited to use my waffle iron. It%u2019s been too long) and sent them on their way home to be moody tweens because that is now happening.

Oh, and I can%u2019t forget about how some little shithead smashed in the back of our car. Yup, that happened too. But that is pretty much it. I think%u2026.

Now for today. Mt Auscunty State park if all goes to plan. Should be a fun one with lots of hiking and a big high tower and stuff. I know it is gonna get mighty cold tonight so I am packing my winter long underwear and a jacket, hat, and mittens. So excited!

Links to explore on the internet.

–Doctors are now prescribing houseplants to help treat anxiety and depression. Makes a whole heck of a lot of sense to me. And why not try this simple remedy before trying a bunch of drugs?

-I wasn’t;t surprised much when I read this. Junky processed food is so bad, especially if it is all you eat. .19-Year-Old Goes Blind Due to Diet of Pringles, Bread, Fries, and Processed Meats

–Lush Botanical Forms Translated Into Abstract Embroideries%u00a0. So very pretty.

-Another good reason to ditch that pessimistic attitude and to look at he bright side of things. It doesn%u2019t hurt to try. Optimists For The Win: Finding The Bright Side Might Help You Live Longer

–Why do clowns creep us out?%u00a0Because they are creepy, that is why.

-I want, no, I need this cabin. Totally Off-the-Grid Cabin in the New Hampshire Woods

–This Apple Might Be the Most Anticipated Piece of Produce in History. I heard about this apple few years ago. I wonder if it%u2019s gonna live up tp all the hype. We shall see.

-Why don%u2019t we have one of these? The Otter: The 1950s Amphibious Caravan That Time Forgot!

–Can Bullet Journaling Save You? I am a list maker in all the ways. I a ma doodler to no end. I love pretty things and I love hand writing and have a ton of sketch books but besides the occasional list of note in a sketch book, I have never really gotten into Buju. It%u2019s to time sensitive I think, for me anyway.

–Squeeze in a Quick Nap at Work with This Under-Desk Hammock. A new way to sleep on the job. HA.

Pictures from the week.

It’s strange to think that only a few years ago I was not a big eggplant fan. Before I started to experiment with cooking it myself, the only time I had ever really had it was when I was young and it was deep fried, like eggplant parm style. It just wasn’t for me.

So when I started doing my farm share 5years ago and were getting lots of eggplants, I knew I had to figure something out and try new ways of eating it. Well it turns out that I actually love eggplant, like a lot.%u00a0 I went eggplant crazy and for a while was eating a eggplant a day, either roasted or tuned into soup or cooked crispy into chips. And lots of baba ganoush, or what I think of as eggplant hummus (all the hummus stuff minus the chick peas). Smooth, creamy, rich and tangy. I have been know to make a batch and eat it all to my face in a sitting.( there is absolutely nothing wrong with that) It’s that good. And bonus. Being so super busy busy, this is just so dang fast and easy to make. 25 minutes and 20 of those minutes are the eggplant roasting, and you got yourself something tasty to eat. Plus if you have a few eggplant in the fridge that might have seen better days, turning them into the baba ganoush is a great way to go.

Baba ganoush, The name just says it all cause how could something called baba ganoush be anything other then awesome.

The stuff. A couple (or three) eggplants, a lemon, some tahini, garlic, olive oil and salt.

Eggplant get sliced in half and stuck onto a baking sheet to go into a super hot oven to roast. Some people oil it, I don’t, but you can if you want.

Brown and tender. Roasted to perfection.

Toss the roasted eggplant and the garlic into a blender. Add in the juice of the lemon, tahini, olive oil and a pinch of salt.

Blend.

So silky smooth. Taste and add any more tahini, salt, lemon that you want until it taste like it should taste to you.

And into a bowl it goes. Baba ganoush all up in your face. I highly enjoy a good dusting of some zataar on top, but even just a sprinkle of pepper, or sumac, sesame seeds or even thyme is nice. Or nothing, you don’t need anything.

A big bowl of baba served with some chippers (for the mr) and cut up veggies (for me!) I wanted to make pitas but just didn’t have the time. Oh well, next time.

Be careful, this stuff is addictive!

-C

Make about 2-1/2 cups

• 2 eggplants (or 3 smaller sized eggplant)
• 1 lemon
• 3-4 cloves garlic
• 3 tablespoons tahini ( more if you like)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• salt
• Zataar (optional)

Crank up the oven to 450

Slice eggplants in half and place on a cooking sheet and into the oven they go.

Bake for 25ish minutes, flipping over after 15 or so minutes, until the eggplant browned is nice and tender then remove from oven.%u00a0 Take the cooked eggplant and dump into a blender.(skin and all)%u00a0 Add in the juice of the lemon, the tahini, the olive oil, and a pinch of salt. Blend it all together until smooth. Taste and add more tahini and or salt if needed.( can even add more lemon too) Once you are happy with the taste, scoop into a bowl and serve with a good pinch of zataar seasoning (if your into it) and a butt load of veggies, pitas, chips or whatever you dip into you baba ganoush.

I eat a lot of hummus. Like a lot. Every day, all day long. (seriously, I am always snacking on veggies dipped in hummus) So I am sorry to all around me that my breath always smells.. (I blame all the garlic in the hummus.)

Recently, during a particularly browsey grocery shop, I ended up in the hummus case (I always end up there) and found a new hummus flavor.%u00a0 Pineapple jalapeno, WHAT.%u00a0 I grabbed it right then and there, convinced that hummus gods were rewarding me for all of my hummus eating and have made me my very own flavor.

Got home, tossed all the groceries into the fridge and busted open the new hummus, a bag of carrots, and went at it. Oh man, it was good.(to often the store bought hummus flavors are not so great) The flavors were all there, sweet and spicy, and creamy.%u00a0 It was fantastic, I ate almost all of it and I knew I had to make my own.

And I did and you know what, it was even freaking better! (Fresh it the best!)

So If you are a hummus person of any kind, this is a fantastic exciting flavor that will make you all sorts of happy.

The stuff for the hummus:%u00a0 chickpeas, tahini, olive oil, garlic, and salt and pepper. And for flavor add ins,%u00a0 fresh pineapple and a jalapeno pepper.

Chickpeas (rinsed and drained) go into the food processor with some tahini, the juice of the lemon and salt and pepper.. The garlic I actually pulsed in the processor first (to avoid big raw hunks) and some olive oil are also going in on this.

Blended until a smooth, creamy perfection.

Now for the fun stuff. Dice up the pineapple and remove seeds (or not) from the jalapeno and dice that up too

Toss it all (minus a few little pieces of garnish if you want) into that creamy dreamy hummus.

Pulse pulse pulse until the chunks of stuff are all incorporated . Make it super chunky or super smooth, up to you. I like mine kinda chunky, but not too chunky, if you know what I mean.

Into a big bowl, topped with a few little diced up pieces of jalapeno and pineapple, you know, for prettiness. And lots of cracked pepper.. Lots.

Now eat. With whatever ( I like veggies or just give me a spoon, Ican eat hummus all by itself)

Hummus for life!

-C

Makes about 2 1/2cups

• 2 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas (one can)
• 2-3 cloves garlic
• 2 tablespoons tahini
• 1 lemon
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3/4 cup fresh pineapple
• 1-2 jalapenos
• salt and pepper

Rinsed and drain chickpeas. Add garlic and a little olive oil to the food processor and pulse until the garlic is a little minced. Add in the drained chickpeas,%u00a0 tahini, a sprinkle of salt ans pepper, the juice of the lemon and another tablespoon of olive oil and blend until smooth.

Dice up pineapple into smaller chunks and remove seeds (if you want) from the jalapeno and chop that into smaller pieces . Add to the hummus and pulse until combined. You can leave it chunky or blend until smooth. Just stop blending when you reach you desired consistency . Garnish with more chopped pineapple and jalapeno and lots of freshly ground pepper.

Serve with whatever you eat your hummus with.

Store left over (there probably won’t be any) in a container in the fridge.

%u00a0 %u00a0 %u00a0Spicy, crispy cauliflower%u2026 um yes please.%u00a0 I really like cauliflower. The mister loves it, or at least likes it better than any other vegetable. So when he asked for spicy cauliflower, well yea I am going to make it because I am so nice and really, could I say no to a veggie request? (I might have said no if it involved deep frying) Also, I found fresh cauliflower on sale! ($2.25) I don’t usually cook fresh cauliflower, but %u00a0I figured at that price, it wouldn’t be bad to cook a head. (If I am cooking cauliflower, which I do a lot, I just use frozen%u2026.casue it be waaaay cheaper)%u00a0

Fresh, cheap and requested veggies%u2026.those are must makes. And the mister was happy with I handed him the plate of oh so lovely looking crispy crunchy loveliness. (I kind of like to make him happy%u2026sometimes)

The stuff. Cauliflower, chopped and broken into pieces. Corn meal mixed with salt, pepper, onion and garlic powder, and because I made this for the mister, parmesan cheese. And in the green bowl, srirsachi and a little oil. The%u00a0cauliflower%u00a0gets a coat of the hot sauce and then tossed around in the corn meal mixture. Handling as little as possible, place coated pieces on a lightly oiled baking sheet and stick those suckers in the oven for%u00a0about a half hour, taking them out and%u00a0flipping half way.And take them out of the oven when pieces tuned golden brown, stik them on a plate, and serve immediately.

A bit of spice, a bit of crispy , a lot a yum. %u00a0Serve with some crunchy veggies, maybe a squeeze of lemon and definitely some type of avocado situation.

A beer would be lovely too!

Have a fantastic weekend!%u00a0

-C

Spicy Crispy baked Cauliflower

• 1 head cauliflower, chopped or broken into florets
• 1/2 cup corn meal
• 3-4 tablespoon sriracha or your favorite hot sauce
• 1 tablespoon olive or coconut oil
• salt and pepper
• Any seasonings you might like (garlic or onion powder,%u00a0parmesan cheese,%u00a0national yeast%u2026. whatever%u00a0floats your boat)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees%u00a0

In a bowl, mix together sriracha and oil. In a separate %u00a0bowl, mix salt, pepper, any seasonings you might like, and corn meal. %u00a0Take cauliflower and toss in sauce to coat. Remove from sauce and toss around in cornmeal mixture till fully coated, but try not to hand too much%u00a0so the coating doesn’t come off. Place pieces on a lightly oiled baking sheet and stick into oven. Bake for about 15 minutes, remove and flip pieces. Back into the oven for another 15-20 minutes (depending on you crispy preference) Remove when golden brown (or darker if you like) and%u00a0serve immediately.

Cucumber, celery, and carrots are great accompaniments.. also a little mashed avocado or guacamole is much appreciated.

Peas scream spring to me. The bright green color with that nice bright fresh taste%u2026.. kind of like a fresh spring day. Ah spring, so lovely, so nice, so hasn’t made its way here yet. So I guess I am left to eat my spring.%u00a0And what better way to highlight those lovely spring tastes? A fantastic pesto my friends, and it can be made lickidy split.

Pesto is one of those things that I am constantly making, and not just the kind most people think of with basil and nuts, I pesto everything..peppers, greens, carrots, squash. %u00a0And yea, I used this post to make a pesto pasta dish, but pesto has so many other fantastic uses. Like as a sandwich or wrap spread or a dip for veggies and crackers. I have used it as a soup base, a pizza sauce, on roasted potatoes and marinated tofu with pestos. It can also be thinned down and used as a salad dressing. See, so many uses.%u00a0

And this pea pesto is no exception. It has such a great light, almost fruity, super bright taste. I mean, it’s peas so it taste just like peas but somehow even better. It really works in my mouth. I could eat a bowl of this stuff and be happy.%u00a0

Whatever you plan on using it for, make the pesto. You will be thanking me later.%u00a0

Pesto Stuff. We got the peas, garlic, lemon, oil, cheese if you please, and salt. %u00a0Take a handful of peas and set aside for later. Juice the lemon and take that and the rest of the stuff and stick in%u00a0a food processor and puree until smooth.%u00a0

Oh my, so green, so good. %u00a0I first made it without cheese and %u00a0scooped a little out for me. It was perfect. Like the most brilliant bright pea flavor ever. It made me happy. After I added in the cheese, the mister said it tasted even better%u2026. so cheese or not, it’s going to be good!The%u00a0pesto is made, and it only took about 2 seconds, now boil up the pasta. %u00a0If you were a thinker, you could start the pasta and make the pesto while its boiling. (I wasn’t being a thinker) I used bow ties cause they are super cute, but use whatever pasta you’re feeling. Shells or the ones that look like little brains would be good options.

Once the pasta is cooked, strain, reserving about 1/4 cup of the water. Add that bit of water back to the pot, add in the pesto, give a stir and dump pasta back into the pot. Toss in a handful of peas, maybe sprinkle some cheese and give it a good crack of some pepper.

Into a bowl and served with a fork to eat it with. %u00a0A super green fresh springy meal of happiness. And all under 15 minutes in the kitchen.

Oh you want to thank me for this…

Hey, not a problem%u2026.not a problem at all.

-C

Spring Pea Pesto and Bow Ties

Makes enough pesto to coat a pound of cooked pasta and have some left over for sandwiches or to spread on crackers.

• 1 lb. fresh or frozen peas (thawed if frozen)
• 1 lemon
• 4-5 cloves garlic
• 2 ish tablespoons of olive oil
• 1/4 cup parmesan, really or vegan (optional)
• salt
• 1 lb (an average box) of bow tie pasta (use any whole wheat, vegan, gluten free variety)

Place peas, (remove a handful and set aside to toss into the pasta) garlic, the juice of the lemon, olive oil and the parmesan (if you are using) into a food processor. Blend until smooth. Taste and salt as needed.

Pasta%u2026 Boil per instructions on box. Strain pastas but save about a 1/4 cup of starchy water. Toss pasta, starchy water and pesto together, adding in the handful or more of the whole peas. Sprinkle with more parmesan and or cracked pepper ,if wanted, and serve in big bowls.%u00a0

Use a fork. Eat, smile and be happy.%u00a0

%u00a0 %u00a0%u00a0 Before we get to the fries, I just want to mention that %u00a0yesterday was one of those fantastic winter days that reminds me why I love living in Vermont. %u00a0Pretty white snow everywhere, the sun was out, and 20 degrees without a gust of wind. The trash dog an I were even able to go for a little hike. %u00a0It was so nice and soooo sooo needed!%u00a0 Anyways, the other day as me, my sister and the mister where putting together %u00a0one more piece of Ikea furniture, (I am the master at Ikea assembling!) %u00a0a little runs into the room and presents the mister with a Dominos pizza. Yup, a whole pizza just for him. Why you might ask? Well I guess my sister was %u00a0delivered the wrong pizza and the place didn’t want it back and she didn’t want it, so she gave it to him.

A whole pizza to himself. I didn’t mind too much..he was just going to be eating it for lunch and dinner until it was%u00a0out of the fridge. But for dinner I did want him to eat something of the vegetable matter that didn’t come out of a box. I was going to make him a big salad, but then realized that would mean%u00a0sharing the last of the greens that I had for MY%u00a0dinner and I was not about to do that, so I made him parsnip and carrot fries instead. No biggy, just some slicing, a little tossing and a bit of time in the old oven. And I figured I might as well make a nice sauce for those fries because I be so very nice.

The biggest problem that I ran into when I made these fries was that I didn’t make enough, so you should probably make twice as many as you think you will eat. If you end up not eating them all (which you probably will), well then you now have a great start for a soup or a nice addition to a salad. Either way, you will eat them because they are amazing and addicting%u2026 and as healthy as can be!

The carrots and the parsnips are all sliced up into big matchsticks and ready to be baked to crispy browned perfection. %u00a0I added the oil to the pan to toss the fries in and then sprinkled with a fair amount of salt and pepper. %u00a0If you don’t have and or want to use a cast iron pan, a baking sheet works just the same.

%u00a0 %u00a0Oh saucy sauce stuff. Tomato puree, sriracha, and yellow mustard. Add a little bit of honey to lighten it up (can use brown sugar if keeping it vegan), a splash of apple cider vinegar and a couple minced cloves of garlic. Topped off with the smokey delightful spice of cumin. I cold eat this on everything%u2026and I kind of did.%u00a0

All mixed up in an oven safe dish, I stuck it into the oven for a about 8 minutes until it got a little bubbly, just to let all the flavors fuse together%u2026

Fries are done, Sauce is ready. Served in super cute tea cups.(from now on I want to serve everything in tea cups.) A perfect side dish, snack, or even a light meal. %u00a0It lead the mister to ask the question…What pizza?%u00a0

Happy Day!

-C

Parsnip and Carrot Fries with Smokey Sriracha Sauce

The Stuff

For the Fries

• 2 large parsnips
• 2 large carrot
• salt and pepper
• 1 tablespoon oil

For the Sauce

• 1 tablespoon Sriracha
• 1 tablespoon mustard
• 2 tablespoon tomato puree (or 1 tablespoon tomato paste and 1 tablespoon water)
• 2 cloves or garlic
• 1 teaspoon honey or brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• a splash of apple cider vinegar
• a pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 425.

Wash%u00a0and trim%u00a0carrots and parsnips and cut into large matchsticks%u00a0(any shape is good, just make them all uniform) Toss with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place on cast iron pan or baking sheet and stick in oven for 30 or so minutes, and rotating after about 20. The fries are done when %u00a0crispy and brown.

For the sauce. Mince garlic and add to all the sauce ingredients in an oven safe bowl. stick into oven for about 8 minutes until slightly bubbly and hot.

Dip fries in sauce

I was informed yesterday that if I was going to make tortilla chips, that I better make some sweet ass dips to go with them. %u00a0I kind of agree%u2026 tortilla chips need dip%u2026 or better yet, two dips. Queso and guacamole. It’s what needed to be done, and so I did it.

Guacamole is amazing%u2026 anything avocado is amazing%u2026this guacamole is amazing. White bean guacamole is amazing. And not that we really care, but this guac is half the fat then straight up guacamole. %u00a0Plus it’s packed full of protein making it a kind of super duper, must eat all of it, kind of dip. %u00a0And sweet potato anything will make me happy. %u00a0Making queso dip with sweet potato and cauliflower is probably one of my best food combos so far. (after eating a butt load, I felt like I was a genius and made an amazing discovery) Again, not that we need it to be, but this is also a fat-free, vegan, gluten-free, super healthy, packed full of B12,%u00a0%u00a0fiber and nutrients, dip for all kind of dip.%u2026. just another reason why you cannot feel bad when you finish off half a batch before you get a chance to stick it in a serving bowl. (I might have done that)

%u00a0Here is what you need for a good time:

%u2212These tortilla chips%u00a0%u2026.Check.

%u2212Some %u00a0Chopped Veggies (I want the veggies)%u2026..Check

%u2212Cauliflower Sweet Potato Queso.%u2026Check.

%u2212White Bean Guacamole%u2026Check.%u00a0

You are now ready for it. It being this party, that party, the Super Bowl, or a Wednesday afternoon. %u00a0

%u00a0%u00a0 %u00a0 %u00a0%u00a0

To the left we have the makings for the cauliflower sweet potato queso.. Steamed cauliflower, a baked sweet potato, nutritional yeast, garlic, and chopped up red onion, red bell pepper and jalape%u00f1o. To make all you need to do it take the chopped peppers, onion, and garlic and saut%u00e9 for a few minutes just to slightly soften and bring out flavors. While that’s going on, take the steamed cauliflower and sweet potato(skin off..but eat it, or save it for soup or feed it to the dog) and puree together with a blender or food processor. Add in nutritional yeast, about a tablespoon or two of hot water and, salt and pepper to taste. Blend for about 5 minutes until super creamy smooth. Add in saut%u00e9ed stuff and pulse just enough to incorporated the veggies but not complete blend in. %u00a0Stick in a bowl.

To the right we have white bean guacamole stuff. %u00a0Two cups (or one can) rinsed white beans, one ripe avocado, a lime, a few cloves of garlic,(I also added a bit of garlic powered%u2026I like my garlic) and some chopped up red onion and tomato. %u00a0Place beans, garlic, avocado and lime juice in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Add salt to taste and toss in the chopped tomato and onion. Blend for sec to mix that in%u2026Stick in a bowl%u00a0

Perfect…

To think that both of these dips took about 10 minutes total to make. (I had pre baked the cauliflower and sweet potato) %u00a0And for real, I would spend much more time if I had too because both of these dips are so freaking good, I%u00a0definitely will be making these on the regular.

So there , dips for those sweet ass chips or whatever you want to dip or them spread them on.%u00a0

And he guys%u2026It’s FRIDAY! Have a fantastic day!

-C

White Bean Guacamole%u00a0

• 2 cups white beans (or 1 can) rinsed and drained
• 1 ripe avocado
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 lime
• 1/4 %u00a0small red onion
• 1 small tomato
• 1-2 teaspoons salt

Finley chop onion and tomato. Set aside. Place the beans, avocado, garlic, garlic powder, 1 teaspoon salt and the juice from one lime into a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Add a splash of water if needed to help keep things moving. Taste and add more salt if needed. When smooth, add %u00a0the onion and tomato and pulse a few times to mix in. Scoop into a serving dish and finish with a squeeze of lime and a bit of chopped onion and tomato.%u00a0

Cauliflower Sweet Potato Queso

• 1 1/2 cups pre cooked steamed or roasted cauliflower
• 1 medium pre baked sweet potato
• 1/2 cup nutritional yeast
• 1-2 tablespoons hot water
• 1/2 a small red pepper
• 1/4 small red onion
• 1 jalape%u00f1o
• 3 cloves garlic
• salt and pepper

Finely dice the red pepper, jalape%u00f1o, onion and garlic and saut%u00e9 in a skillet for a few minutes until slightly soften and fragrant. Take the pre-cooked cauliflower, sweet potato (skin removed), and nutritional yeast and place in a blender or food processor. Blend for about 5 minutes until creamy and smooth. Add in a tablespoon %u00a0of water %u00a0to keep things moving. When completely smooth, add in saut%u00e9ed veggies and pulse a few times to combine. Scoop into a serving dish. If your feeling it, %u00a0top with scallions and cracked pepper.

Serve dips with chips, veggies or anything you want. Also make great spreads for sandwiches and crackers too!

Pomeamole!! %u00a0That’s what I want to call it, so that’s what it is. Guacamole with the addition of tiny little pearls of sweet and tangy juice.. I mean, come one, it can’t get much better. This is what happens when avocados are on super sale, I buy a lot%u2026and then eat a lot%u2026.and then eat some more. %u00a0I start to get a little crafty and, wa la.. add pomegranate seeds. I also inflict anyone eating around me with avocado, even if they believe that they don’t like it because that’s not possible. I know this because there was a time where I believed that I didn’t like avocados%u2026 and that’s just crazy. I remember the very moment I realized I was wrong. It was the first food Nick ever made for me. I was working at a pottery studio and wasn’t able to leave because of a raku firing %u00a0and I was starving. My love saved me with a sandwich, and it was the best I had ever eaten. %u00a0A sandwich that contained hummus, greens, sun-dried tomatoes, and yup, big slices of avocado. That sandwich change my life. I knew from that moment on%u2026. %u00a0I loved avocados%u2026%u2026oh and that I loved Nick too. I know, we are so cute that you want to barf. Well go ahead, just do it before you eat the pomeamole.

It’s all pretty simple…One very tasty ripe avocado, about 1/2 cup of pomegranate seeds, %u00a0a little chopped onion, a bit of chopped tomato, %u00a0a lemon, a few cloves of garlic and a pinch of salt. %u00a0It’s what dreams are made of.

Mash it all together minus the pomegranate seeds%u2026 As smooth or as chunky as you like it%u2026.

Fold in 1/2 the seeds

And top with the rest! And another squeeze of lemon%u2026 just like that. You can eat this magic with anything you want; %u00a0chippers, rice cakes, tacos, toast, or even top a kale salad with a big scoop. %u2026..we at it with carrots and broccoli. SO GOOD!

Pomeamole! (Pomegranate Guacamole)

Ingredients

• 1 ripe avocado
• 1/2 a small red or sweet onion
• 1/2 a small tomato
• 2-3 cloves of garlic
• salt
• %u00a0a lemon or lime

Pit and scoop avocado into a medium bowl and smash until desired consistency. Finely chop onion, garlic and tomato and mix together with avocado and half the juice of the lemon. Fold in most the pomegranate seed. Top with the rest and the squeeze the other half of lemon on top.

Serve with food, or just eat with a spoon.

Hooray for on-sale avocados!!%u00a0

-C

My winter farm share is coming to an end this week. One more pick and then a three week stretch until the summer share starts… WHAT AM I GOING TO DO!!! Stock up as much as I can is what.

I have been strategic about the roots and veggies that I have chosen to bring home the past few weeks.(My farm lets you pick what you want)  I know what I can buy at the store, things like carrots and potatoes, so I have been passing those up, but the roots like beets and celeriac… I have been bringing home baskets of those and hoarding them in the fridge and basement in preparation for the laps in farm fresh food and knowing that if I want to by these at the store it s going to coast me a million dollars  a pound. (a for real million dollars)

Yup, lots of roots around here, especially celeriac root which is fantastic. I am kind of obsessed with celeriac, with its fibrous, knobby exterior, soft but almost meaty texture inside, and a flavor that  is close to celery but so much better.  I don’t know why it has taken me so long to do a posting featuring this amazing root vegetable  (I eat it almost every day)

So here, an amazingly tasty, hearty but not heavy, celeriac recipe.  Perfect for spring and the change into summer…. Mustard roasted celeriac with an fanatic split peas gravy that will have you licking you bowl clean.

 The stuff….For the split pea gravy we have a carrot, a parsnip and a large onion chopped into small chunks.  Salt, thyme, a bay leaf and of course the split peas. Then there is the celeriac root* sliced into 1/2 inch thick rounds and some plain old yellow mustard .

*Note. I don’t peel my celeriac root. I really enjoy the fibrous exterior but realize that some don’t(The mister does not like it) so peel it if you want. 

Toss the chopped parsnip, carrot, onion and the spices into a pot on medium heat and let veggies sweat a few minutes until tender.  Add in the split peas and enough water to cover everything.  Turn pot on high and bring to a boil, then cover and turn to low. Make sure to give the pot a good stir ever few minutes and add more water if needed 

While the gravy is cooking,  take the celeriac rounds and brush each side with yellow mustard, sprinkle with pepper, and place on a baking sheet. Stick into the oven to roast for about 25 minutes, flipping the rounds after about 10 minutes.

Once the peas have soften, remove the bay leaf and puree until smooth and oh so creamy. Taste and add more salt and pepper if needed. If you find that the gravy seems to thick, just add in more water until it’s the consistency that you want. The gravy is made, the celeriac is roasted… now we are ready to eat!! Stick the celeriac on a plate and dump good amount of that gravy right on top. Feel free to add a bed of spinach, or a grain or anything you want, because why not, and also some chopped tomatoes for a little acid and prettiness.

Serve with the fanciest knife and fork you can find. Extra yellow mustard and sriracha sauce are great condiments to have close by.

Happy Tuesday!

-C

• 2 medium celeriac roots
• 6 tablespoons mustard
• 1 large carrot
• 1 medium parsnip
• 1 large yellow onion
• 2/3 cup split peas
• 2-3 cups water 
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 teaspoons thyme or italian spice mix
• salt and pepper
• spinach (optional)
• diced tomatoes(optional)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Small dice the carrot, parsnip and onion and throw into a large pot. Spinkle with salt and pepper, add in the thyme and bay leaf and add a splash of water. Stick on stove on medium heat and stir. Let cook until the veggies become soft and fragrant. Now add in the split peas and 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil then cover and turn heat down to medium low. Let cook until the split peas become tender (about 25 minutes) string on occasion and adding more water if the peas are not completely summered while cooking.

Once the peas are tender, let cool for a few minutes, remove bay leaf, and either dump into a blender or blend with an immersion blender until nice and creamy. If gravy seems to thick, add in more water. 

Scrub or peel celeriac roots and slice them into 1/2 inch think rounds. Place on a baking sheet and brush mustard on both sides and spindle with pepper. Stick into oven for about 10 minutes, flip, then back into the oven for another 15 or so minutes, or unit the celeriac is tender.

When the celeriac is done remove from oven and  stick a few rounds on a bed of spinach (or not, or any kind of grain or green you like) Top with a hearty helping of the gravy and toss on some chopped up tomatoes.

Eat with at knife and fork like a fancy person.

August. Then gem of the summer. Warm days, cool nights. The knowledge that yes, it is still summery now, but soon it will be crisp, and cool, and all fall with sweaters and apples and%u2026 I am getting ahead of myself. Still summer here, and I should just enjoy it will it lasts. So that is what I will do.

This past week was busy and a little on the stressful side at times. It started with camping on Sunday which was good, maybe not the best, but no camping is bad camping, unless it is bad. It just that is was terribibly hot and there was a lot of people around and poison ivy everywhere which made me anxious because I was also getting attacked by mosquitoes so I kept thinking I was starting to get it. (I am very allergic to poison ivy). Also I woke up in the middle if the night to the mr yelling because someone was looking into our tent. I didn%u2019t see said person because I was asleep until I wasn%u2019t and I did questioned whether or not he might have dreamed it, but needless to say, I didn’t not sleep much after that. So yeah, other then that, not bad. And then we got out of the tent early, made the coffee and went on our way home. To life. We had (and still have) a lot of stuff going on, all at once because that is how it goes. But we got stuff done, and then some. And we even managed to get in a couple kayak sessions! First of the year because we are butts and also we just finally got around to getting racks for the car.(No more truck to throw them into. Sad). We also made time to look at a big chunk of land that I was sooooo expecting to love but nope, wasn%u2019t for us. We test drove a newer van that was awesome, but again,wasn;t for us. We picked up farm share together and ate ten thousand tomatoes, and are now officially 100% filed and finished our taxes. Checks were wrote, I might have cried a little, but done they are.

So yeah, the week went, we did, I am tired, the mr is really tired, and we are ready to get out of here for the night. Our camping stuff is packed and ready to go. Now where are we going is the question%u2026..Somewhere without night creepers would be nice.

Links from the internet for you to take or leave.

-Plastics Or People? At Least 1 Of Them Has To Change To Clean Up Our Mess. A beach of flip flops. How depressing. People, let%u2019s all just stop buying plastic!

-I don%u2019t know what the heck is wrong with people but curly parsley is the shit! It%u2019s delicious and I can eat handfuls of it. For real. How Did Curly Parsley Get So Uncool?

-Reading this made me sad and angry. Greenland Is Melting Away Before Our Eyes

–This Must Be What It%u2019s Like to Live Inside a Rainbow. I can appreciate it and I would love to say there but I don%u2019t think I could actually live with that much color. Sensory overload!

-Now these rooms. I could live in. Cool Pics Show Hotel Rooms of the U.S in the 1950s and ’60s

-This reminded me so much of my sister Erin. She would do something like this (or already has) Three Cats in Japan Have a Closet Full of Custom-Made Hats Felted From Their Shedded Fur

–This Remote Corner Of Nevada Is One Of The Darkest Places In The World. I want to go. I will go. And I bet everyone else wants to to, so lets all not be assholes and trash the place like happens when cool places are discovered.

-I am a slut for bedding. Just pictures of pretty textiles make me happy. BOHO BEDDING.

–At Burger King, Your Meat-Free Burger Might Come With a Coating of Real Meat Juice. This is another reason why I don%u2019t ever go out to eat. And this 1 In 4 Food Delivery Drivers Admit To Eating Your Food. I trust no one!

–Japanese Way of Making Iced Coffee. Do you drink Iced coffee? I love it but rarely drink it because I have no will power when it comes to coffee and will basically chug it and then it is gone and I am sad. Hot coffee slows me down, if only a little bit.

And pictures from the week.