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- Black Bean Sweet Potato Burritos
- Fenn Valley Wine Dinner Review
- Oat Bran Muffins
- Nutty Cauliflower Skillet
- Spicy Baked Apples
- The Traveling Omnivore’s Dilemma: Eating Healthy on the Road
- Chicken or Tofu Stir Fry
- Introducing the Food & Faith Challenge
- Oops, I Did It Again–Forgot the Dark Days Challenge!
- Whole Wheat Waffles with Blueberry Sauce
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About Me
Join me on a culinary adventure as I learn how to cook with local and simple ingredients by making all the recipes in Simply in Season. Along the way we'll explore the benefits of eating locally, including freshness, taste, nutrition, variety, environment, and local and global health.
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I was originally going to make kale enchiladas tonight, but the kale wasn’t looking so hot. Luckily I happened to have all the items on hand to make the Black Bean Sweet Potato Burritos from Simply in Season.
I’m finally home! There’s nothing like sleeping in your own bed, and eating something from your own kitchen. So this morning I decided to whip up some oat bran muffins from the new edition of Simply in Season.
The folks at the Mennonite Central Committee were kind enough to send me the newer version of Simply in Season for my project, since I had the “old” edition and I thought well hey, it would be good to have the additional recipes included too! Then I realized that just added about 18 more recipes to my total. Sigh. I think I’m still on track to finish by August, though. So that’s good.
This is one of the recipes that I’m glad is in the new edition. Even though I’m making it out of season (and thus had to buy cauliflower from who knows where), I anticipate it will be good.
On Sunday we celebrated my mom’s birthday. My two sisters who live in the area and I usually cook on her birthday, so this year we found ourselves wondering what to make. My sister Mary reminded me that our mom loves shrimp. However, Mary’s husband is allergic to shellfish. So I decided to make Chicken or Tofu Stir Fry from Simply in Season, except I’d make one batch chicken and the other batch shrimp.
Ever have one of those mornings? As in, you wake up to make your DH waffles, but then realize that you don’t have any buttermilk. So you look on the internet and Joy the Baker comes to the rescue, suggesting lemon juice and milk as a substitute. So you add 1 T lemon juice per cup of milk and wait for it to do its thing, and then you realize . . . there’s no whole wheat flour.
So, for the longest time I’ve wanted to make kale chips, I just never got around to it. Lately the kale in my winter CSA has been a bit on the dry side, so I figured now would be the perfect time to give it a try. I’ve read many variations on the recipe, instructions to bake from 350F to 450F, 10-15 minutes. Sprinkle with oil and salt. Various kinds of oils or salt.
My first attempt was with Pam at 450F. About 5 minutes after putting them in I went to check on them and realized they were burned. Oops. So for my second attempt I drizzled olive oil on them, cracked some sea salt over them, stuck them in the oven and watched them like a hawk. Score! Nice and crunchy. Even the stems, which I was supposed to remove but it was difficult because of the variety, were tasty. It was more roasted than crispy, but the oil and salt were finger-licking good. Way better for you than chips!
It seems like everyone has a favorite recipe for baked oatmeal . . . except me. I’ve never made it. When others are exchanging their favorite recipes (usually in anticipation of serving a crowd, or to make a big batch to refrigerate and eat over the coming week), I just smile and nod. Until today!
Last Monday I had a Slow Food book club meeting. We read the Scavenger’s Guide to Haute Cuisine (click here to read my review). We were supposed to bring something with the theme “gourmet roadkill.” I knew right away I would bring venison chili with the recipe from Simply in Season.
Speaking of Simply in Season, I recently bought a couple of new “local produce” themed cookbooks from Amazon hoping to find more turnip recipes.
Doing Fitness Your Way
by Fit Jerk
Help – It’s something everyone needs from time to time. A helping hand, friendly assistance, mentor guidance and so on. And today there is absolutely no shortage of help available. You can literally get help in any niche from the people who’ve “been there and done that”. Some say this type of advice is invaluable… and at times it is.
But at other times, it’s a problem. Because it makes everyone lazy. An unlimited resource of help means fewer people are blazing their own trails. Just because something has worked once, everyone jumps on this bandwagon and tries to replicate and duplicate instead of innovate. It’s bull and it will only get you as far as it got the original person. No wait, it wont get you as far because it’s already been done!
If you had asked me a year ago whether I had ever cooked or baked with wheat germ or oat bran, I would have given you the side eye. For starters, I didn’t bake or cook that much. Secondly, I would have assumed you’d have to go to an overpriced health food to get those items.
My how times have changed. The health food store is still overpriced for packaged/processed goods, but a downright bargain for bulk items and spices. And this morning, I couldn’t wait to make Mostly Oats Granola from Simply in Season.
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