Tuesday, May 29, 2012

In and out can go........

take a long walk off a short pier!! I am telling you after being a beef eater my whole life this black bean burger was the best I have ever tasted!!! I actually got to eat two of them because they are so good and good for you, I don't have to worry about a tummy ache later tonight like I get with beef!

You know it used to be 40 years ago, my mom would cook chile verde, and I would beg for a piece of raw steak with lots of salt on it, she always let me have a few chunks, and it was soooo good, but that was when beef had flavor and was not full of hormones and drugs and chemicals...now days the beef just tastes rotten, I have not had a decent steak in 5 years!!
So I quit beef.

With the help of my daughter in law, Rebecca (vegan) and my sister Christy (vegetarian/vegan) I am on my way to feeling good about what I eat and feeling better the more good foods I put in my body!
I am about 80% dairy free, and 100% beef free. I will still have chicken and fish, but maybe eventually that will go by the wayside too.

If you choose to do one healthy thing this month, make this burger, you won't be sorry!!! It was out of this world fabulous!
From www.gingerandjam.com
She is becoming my go to recipe guru!!

My burger eaten with a lettuce bun and avacado!! Yum!!

Black Bean Burgers
Ingredients
1 cup cooked brown rice
1 15 oz can whole black beans, drained and rinsed
½ Tablespoon olive oil
1/2 small yellow onion, diced in small pieces
1 small red bell pepper, diced in small pieces
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 Tablespoon ground cumin
1/2 Tablespoon paprika
1/2 tablespoon garlic salt (my addition, only cause I add it to everything)
I would add red pepper flakes the next time I cook these!!
Fresh ground pepper and salt to taste
Flour and more olive oil for cooking the patties

Directions

Drain and rinse the beans in a colander. Let sit so they begin to dry slightly while you prep the other ingredients.
Dice the onion and red pepper. Set aside. Mince the garlic. Set aside.
Heat a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add ½ Tablespoon olive oil and let the oil heat slightly. Test to make sure the oil is ready by putting one piece of onion in the pan. If it begins to sizzle then the oil is heated thoroughly.
Add the onion and red pepper to the pan. Cook, stirring regularly, until the onion is soft, about 8-10 minutes depending on the temperature of your pan.
Once the onion is soft (you’ll know by actually biting into a piece!) add the garlic and cook, stirring frequently, for about 30 seconds.
Add the beans, cumin, paprika, ground pepper, and salt. Cook for 3-5 minutes until the beans soften. Again, just taste one! The key to cooking is to taste as you go.
Turn off the heat and grab a potato masher or fork. Mash the bean mixture until most of the beans are pretty smashed. This will help the patties stick together a bit better.
Add the rice to the bean mixture and mix thoroughly. Taste the mixture and add any additional spices as you see fit.
Turn the mixture out on a large plate so it can cool slightly. While it’s cooling you can prep your burger toppings. Avocado! Can I get an Amen?!
Once the bean mixture is cool enough to touch (this shouldn’t take more than 5-10 minutes) separate it into 6 balls. Flatten the balls with the palms of your hand and sprinkle or lightly pat flour onto both sides of each pattie. If you don’t plan to cook all 6 patties at once, set some aside to freeze.
Heat some olive oil in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot add patties to the pan – as many as will fit without being crowded. Cook for 2-3 minutes on each side, paying attention to not letting them burn. Remove from the pan once both sides have a crispy brown crust.
For the patties you set aside and choose not to cook: place them in a freezable container in a single layer or in a Ziploc with parchment paper between each pattie. When you’re ready to enjoy them, simply cook them in a pan with some hot oil – straight from the freezer. Easy peasy.


Monday, May 28, 2012

The 3 day weekend...

What a fun filled weekend I had!
 I went to bingo on Saturday morning and won 1000.00 on the jumbo bingo!

Then saturday night I went to see a Led Zeppelin tribute band with Tanya and Erin, it was so good I got tickets to sunday's show for charlie and I to go back! www.zepagain.com

Then on Monday, I ran some errands while Charlie worked at the raceshop with Ethan, when they got done we went to Metro Pizza for dinner! Back to work tomorrow!

Friday, May 25, 2012

Chicken Fricassee Jackie style!

picture zuccini instead of mushrooms! no peas!
Ok, I was at the end of the week and low on supplies, but I really wanted to make this recipe I saw on americas test kitchen, I record this show and watch it to learn about cooking and tools and much much more, they test and try recipes and kitchen gadgets and let you know which works the best, nothing is endorsed so you can feel confident in their findings! I highly recommend it for the budding cook!
Chicken fricassee, a chicken and mushroom wine cream sauce fabulous type of  dish...they made it simple and easy, you can whip it up in 1/2 hour!

So now on to the reason we need to change the name, I had no mushrooms and no sour cream!! Eeeek!
Thats ok, I had milk and a zuccini! Let's make this dish Jackie's Zuccini Fricassee!!

2 chicken breasts salt and pepper
olive oil and butter 1 tablespoon each
1 zuccini chopped into 1/2 inch pieces (or mushrooms)
1/4 onion diced
1/4 cup white wine
1/2 cup vegetable broth
1 clove minced garlic
1 tablespoon flour
1/2 cup milk
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon parsley chopped
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon cornstarch

Put the olive oil and butter in a pan, heat on med-high, add chicken breasts that have been seasoned with salt and pepper, and brown each side 5 minutes each. Remove from pan, add onion and zuccini and wine to pan, cook on med for about 10 to 15 minutes until reduced and nicely softened and browned. Add garlic and vegetable broth and flour, mix well, turn down to simmer and add chicken back in and cover for 10 minutes until breasts register 160 degrees. Remove only the chicken to a platter, now remove 1/2 cup of the sauce and put in a bowl, add milk, egg yolk, lemon juice, parsley, cornstarch, whisk real good and add back to the pan and heat until thick and bubbly about 3 minutes! Pour sauce over chicken and devour!!

Here is a tip: I buy the little 4 pack of sutter home chardonnay wines, they are perfect to keep in the fridge when you need to add wine to a recipe, you can also get red wine as well! that way you do not have to open a whole bottle of wine just for a 1/2 cup of wine for a recipe!
Mini bottles!

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Broccoli Enhanced!

I bbq'ed some chicken legs for a quick dinner, and was going to just saute up some broccoli with butter and salt and pepper, but I had some time so I thought let's go see what allrecipes.com can do with broccoli...I found this quick and easy sauce to put on the broccoli, I did not serve cold but warm, wow, very tasty..if you love lemon and garlic which I could live the rest of my life eating, you must give it a whirl to enhance your broccoli dining experience!
I whipped it up while the chicken finished cooking in it's last 10 minutes, made the broccoli very flavorful!
Enjoy!
Easy Broccoli Salad
recipe image
Rated: rating
Submitted By: Chef John
Photo By: landcruisers
Prep Time: 15 Minutes
Cook Time: 5 Minutes
Ready In: 50 Minutes
Servings: 4
"This simple broccoli salad kicks up ordinary broccoli with some lemon and red pepper flakes."
Ingredients:
1 1/2 pounds fresh broccoli
3 cloves garlic, mashed into a paste
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 pinch red pepper flakes, or to taste
1 pinch salt and ground black pepper, or
to taste
1/3 cup olive oil
Directions:
1.Trim bottoms of broccoli stems and cut off broccoli heads; cut the broccoli heads into quarters. Peel broccoli stems and cut into quarters crosswise.
2.Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil; reduce heat to medium and cook broccoli until tender when cut with a paring knife but still slightly firm, 5 to 6 minutes.
3.Transfer broccoli to a large bowl filled with cold water and chill to stop the cooking process. Drain well. Arrange broccoli in a colander with the florets facing down towards the holes of the colander and allow broccoli to drip for at least 30 minutes.
4.Whisk together garlic, lemon juice, rice vinegar, Dijon mustard, red pepper flakes, salt, and black pepper together in a large serving bowl. Slowly drizzle in olive oil while whisking rapidly until the dressing is thick and creamy. Adjust salt, black pepper, and crushed red pepper flakes to taste.
5.Toss broccoli with the dressing; let stand 5 to 10 minutes to marinate, then toss again. Can be refrigerated up to an hour if you want to serve the salad cold.

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Happy Birthday Honey!



My hubby is officially "my old man today"! He can now order off  Ihop's senior menu and join the senior center..He is 55!!
I made him this chocolate cake and bought him t-shirts, socks and undies! He loves new socks, it's a passion with him, did you know Jerry Lewis changes white sweatsocks several times a day, always putting on a brand- new pair, and he gives the used ones to charity. My husband would love to be able to do that! So I buy him new socks every birthday and christmas!

Here is the recipe for the cake, it is super moist and super chocolate choclate!! I got the recipe from http://www.gingerandjam.com/ she used milk and yogurt but I had sour cream which lots of people use in their cake making, worked fine, just use 1 3/4 cup sour cream in place of milk and yogurt! Enjoy!


Coffee Chocolate Bundt Cake


Ingredients
1 cup brewed coffee
3/4 cup unsweetened 100% natural cocoa powder
2 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons fine grain salt
2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3 eggs
1 cup 1% milk
3/4 cup 0% Greek yogurt
1 cup canola oil
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2 1/2 cups, plus 2 Tablespoons, all-purpose flour

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees, with a rack in the center of the oven.
Butter the inside of a 10-inch bundt pan and then flour the pan. Hint: “flour” the pan with cocoa powder instead of flour so that no white flour leaves a trace on your cooked and beautiful cake!
Combine coffee and cocoa powder in a small sauce pan. Bring to a low boil, whisking frequently. Once boiling, remove the pan from the heat and let the chocolate come to room temperature while prepping the rest of the recipe.
Combine sugar, salt, baking soda, and eggs in the bowl of your beloved KitchenAid stand mixer. Mix on low speed for about 1 minute.
Add the milk, yogurt, oil, and vanilla to the bowl of the stand mixer. Mix on low speed for about 1 minute.
Add the flour to the bowl of the stand mixer. Mix on medium speed for about 2 minutes, until thoroughly combined.
Add the chocolate/coffee mixture to the bowl of the stand mixer. Mix on medium speed for about 3 minutes. Take a moment to appreciate the joy that is your stand mixer.
Pour the batter into the bundt pan.
Bake the cake for 1 hour until the top is set, or until a cake tester or toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.
Allow the cake to cool completely in the pan. Once cooled, invert the cake onto a pretty plate of your choosing and sprinkle the top with sifted powdered sugar.
Eat the cake while standing at the counter with fork in hand. Share the cake with anyone and everyone you love!



Monday, May 21, 2012

patio daddy'o

I had a table and 4 chairs out under the gazebo but we rarely ate there, we perfer to sit in the pool and eat! It is cooler and less flies! So sunday morning I dragged out the old set to the front lawn and put a for sale sign on it, before I got the last chair out a couple came by and bought it all!
So when Charlie got home from his sunday drive by's (not shooting's) Claims where the people do not call us back, he can usually drive by on sunday morning's and find the cars at home...anyway..when he got home we ran off to walmart and bought the new patio set, great for just sitting and relaxing, plus we can still eat there if we wanted too! I just love it!
What fun stuff did you all do over the weekend??

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Veggie quesadilla!


Since I cut back on eating so much meat, I have been trying to make fun stuff with veggies! I love quesadillas, but I am watching the dairy intake as well so I loaded it with veggies and just about 2 tablespoons of cheese to bind it all together.
Here is how you get it done:

2 flour tortillas
1 poblano chile roasted
olive oil
spinach raw leaves
salsa- I like herdez hot

First roast your chiles,You need one for thi,s but I do more then one and use them in other things, put in baking dish, drizzle with olive oil and roast 350 for 40 minutes, remove from oven place in bowl and cover with foil for 8 minutes. Then you can peeel skin, de-seed and slice into strips.

Heat a flat skillet and place one tortilla down, sprinkle some cheese on, some spinach leaves, some salsa and add on the poblano slices, cover with other tortilla and brown both sides real good. Plate and let sit a few minutes then slice with a pizza wheel into triangles! Delicious!!

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Grilled french toast

We had the best breakfast dishes at the Hilton in Del Mar, I just had to come home and re-create the french toast! Here is how you get it done:

2 slices whole wheat bread
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 cup fast cook oatmeal
butter- about 2 tablespoons
banana-sliced
warmed maple syrup

Mix the eggs and milk in a shallow dish, put oats in another shallow dish, I use pie dishes for these steps.
Heat the butter on medium in a large non stick pan, also heat your syrup in a sauce pan, warmed syrup makes the dish fabulous! Now dip your bread in the egg mix a couple times to coat really well, then dip in the oats to coat both sides and add to frying pan, cook breads until nicely browned and cooked through. Plate them and top with fruit and warm syrup. The Hilton had bananas and blueberries and strawberries, I only had bananas this morning but WOW, the oat coating really adds something to this dish! Plus using whole wheat bread and fresh fruit sorta makes it healthy, haha!
Enjoy!

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Sister Scrappers!

Christy working on travel books!

Me, working on my little scrapping books! Yes, it is still freezing at the crops!
Hey, I am back from my mini vacation to fabulous San Diego, Del Mar Racetrack to be exact. It was a nice relaxing weekend, just me and my sister, Jeff hung out for a day then took the trian home, I bet that was fun!
Christy and I scrapped two whole days taking breaks to walk 2.2 miles roundtrip to the shopping district and food! We had dinner twice at The Fish Market, the calimari was fantastic, the Fish Tacos were to DIE for!! I love love love them! The crabs cakes, marvelous as well! We did eat at The Famous Milton's Deli, but I chose the Veggie stir fry, it was a little boring, we will stick to The Fish Market next year!
The Hilton was under construction, but we trudged on with all the dust and debris, my room was half done, they still needed to upgrade the bathroom. The restaurant in the lobby was still spot on, the breakfast there is amazing, I had grilled french toast (they dip it in dry oatmeal then grill it) smothered in fresh fruit, blueberries, strawberries, bananas, then I drizzled maple syrup on and OH MY heaven!
We had a good time, got lots of exercise in, and slept great! I certainly needed that little get away!
I am all caught up in my scrapbooks now, so I will need to do lots of fun things between now and October, when we will head back to Ontario, Calif. where we will be working on our Spain and Italy books!
Here are some of the pages I made:



Tuesday, May 1, 2012

The Simple Life

I need to get back to basics. I need to de-stress. I need to quit worring about everything I say or do.
Life is too short to be unhappy. It has been my motto for years, and I think with all I have gone through these last 6 months I lost site of my primary goal in life, live simple and be happy.
So I am going to take a break from the rat race and all the stress it causes. I just want to do the simple things in life: cuddle on the couch with my hubby, lounge at the pool with my glass of wine, watch the clouds roll by. I will only be here a short while longer ( 20 years?) and I want to make the best of the rest of my life, unlike how our moms spent their last years, holed up in their mobile homes, never getting out and enjoying some of the simple joys in life...so you may not see me post for awhile but don't worry, I am just getting some fresh air and sunshine and trying to find joy in the little things!
Peace out, my bloggy friends!