ARNOLD PALMER LEMON MINT ICED TEA

This is an idea I got from a glass of iced tea at Water Street that I had recently.

Brew 4 bags of green tea in 2 cups of boiling water
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar
Fresh mint 

This is my fresh mint 

I break the fresh mint in my mortar with my pestle to release the oils and aroma of the mint.
Pour hot tea over sugar and lemon juice in a large pitcher. Add the broken mint and let sit for an hour. Remove the tea bags and mint.


Enjoy over ice on a hot day. It is as refreshing as it sounds.

COUS COUS

Cous Cous makes a perfect light salad in the summer. Its extremely easy to make. The key is to let the dried cous cous steam in a bowl with hot water. Do not boil on the stove or you will end up with your breakfast cereal for the next morning. (sounds like I know what I am talking about) 


Follow the directions on the package.
I use about 1/2 lb of cous cous per salad.

We like the World Market Cous Cous.

Prepare chopped Roma tomatoes and cucumbers while the cous cous is steaming.
Chop fresh parsley and 2 garlic cloves.
Set aside while the cous cous cools.

Can't wait to make this again but using my cukes and tomatoes from my garden instead of store bought.

When cous cous is cooled, add fresh veggies
1/2 cup lemon juice and mix.

Grow your own herbs. They will come in handy.

PIZZA DOUGH

A little of everything. That's my kind of pizza.

Homemade pizza dough is one of our special treats. We have tried lots of different recipes for pizza dough. This is one of my favorites. If you don't have time to make your own dough, the frozen dough balls at Meijer by the frozen juice section are really good for a buck a piece.
1 TBSP Dry yeast
1/2 tsp sugar
2 2/3 cups warm water
2 TBSP Olive oil
7 1/2 cups unbleached flour
1 TBSP Coarse salt 
1/4 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp crushed fennel seeds (basil, oregano or Italian seasoning can be substituted) 

I love Instagram photography

I am a big FOODY! I love food photography! One time while on a weekend get away, we were eating in a fine restaurant. One of my boys ordered an amazing pasta dish. When it was served to our table I had to get a picture of it before he ate it. He leaned down to have his face in the picture not knowing the bowl just came out of a hot oven. As he leaned in for the shot, he burnt his neck on the side of the giant bowl. It was so bad we had to call paramedics to come take a look at it. They were really nice and bandaged it and our entire meal was paid for. We even got 5 desserts sent up to our room because the server felt so bad. Ooops!! My Bad!!

I use my mortar to crush large dried herbs and seeds

EVOO 

Mix Yeast, warm water and sugar until dissolved.
Add herbs (any fresh or dried herbs would be good.
add oil, salt, and flour a cup at a time.
Mix with a fork until it is too thick. Use your hands to knead the dough until all flour is mixed in and it is not sticky.


Oil bowl and let rise for an hour.

What you do with it after that is up to you. 

Half this and half that

MYSTERY MUFFINS

These muffins will be gone soon


BAKE AT 400 degrees
1 egg
3/4 cup soy milk
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup sour cream
2 cups all purpose flour
3 tsp baking powder (aluminum free)
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
If you are hiding jam inside, cover the bottom of the muffin papers with some batter then add the jam.
Continue to fill the muffin papers 3/4 full with batter.

Chocolate Almond

Okay, so I do bake a little. Just easy simple recipes like this one.
Mystery Muffins remind me of my daughter.
She used to make these all the time when she was about 10 and surprise us.
 The original recipe is from an Uncle Arthur Bible Story Book.
You are suppose to hide something inside like jam.

Chocolate Almond in the works. Sorry about the Christmas and holiday papers.

You can alternate the recipe to make any kind of muffin you can think of. Today we made lemon poppy seed and chocolate almond.

Lemon Poppy Seed- I added some Chia seeds in there too. I've never tried Chia seeds but my good friend Andre' told me about them and I found them in bulk at Sawalls.

VEGGIE PANINIS

                          A simple light sandwich is just right for a quick lunch.

Begin with some herbed cream cheese. I like to chop fresh herbs into my cream cheese. I used fresh chives 
for this time.

Personalize it!! Make it your own with your favorite cheeses and veggies 

Spread the herbed cheese onto both sides of some sliced crusty bread. Regular bread will just not do.
You need some good, bakery, Italian, rustic, crusty, bread like baguette, ciabatta, sourdough or 7 grain.
Then place sliced cucumber or fresh spinach on the one side. 
Add your favorite cheese. I used baby Swiss this time. 
Grill in a pan with a foil covered brick (to weight down the sandwich)
or use a panini grill. Which I have one.

No butter nor oil is needed for this panini grill

STUFFED PABLANO PEPPERS

Pablano peppers are perfect for stuffing. They also have a little heat and a great flavor.
You can stuff the pablano peppers with basically anything. I like to use veggies and rice.

Rice
Cilantro
Lime juice
4 cups water
2 cups rice
pinch salt
cook water and rice until it comes to a boil, turn down and simmer for about 10 minutes on low heat.
They when rice is just about done, turn it off and cover.
Add chopped cilantro and lime juice.

Veggies
Saute in a tsp of your favorite oil.
1 diced potato
1 diced carrot
1 chopped celery
2 garlic cloves
1/4 sweet onion
1 tsp cumin
I used some cauliflower and broccoli too that I happen to have. I just diced it very small.
Feel free to substitute and add any veggies you have on hand. Just dice them small and uniform size.
Saute all veggies until tender adding water if needed.
Add 1/2 the rice into the veggies. The other half is for plating.

Peppers
I got these beautiful dark fresh peppers at the flea market this weekend. (6 for $3.00)  Not really knowing what I was going to do with them. We've had stuffed peppers at restaurants before so .........
Wash 6 Pablano peppers and make a slit along the top of the pepper lengthwise so it will open up.
Carefully remove the seeds without splitting the pepper open. Do not remove the
stem or make any other cuts into the pepper.

I got these beautiful dark fresh peppers at the flea market this weekend. (6 for $3.00)   

Sauce
Blend 1/2 jar of salsa with 1/2 cup water
and a few cilantro leaves.
Pour some into the bottom of a casserole dish
set the rest aside to pour on top the peppers after they are stuffed.

Cheese Sauce
Heat in a small sauce pan.
1/4 lb of Queso Mexican cheese or ricotta.
1/2 square of cream cheese
1/2 can crushed pineapple without the juice.
1/2 cup regular soy or nut milk.
add freshly ground black pepper.
You can use any cheese to make a sauce. These can be made vegan. Heat sauce until melted and creamy.

Don't forget the freshly cracked pepper

Preheat oven to 350.
Stuffing the Peppers
Stuff rice mixture into each pepper until full.
Place each stuffed pepper into the casserole dish on top of some sauce.
Pour the rest of your red sauce on top the peppers. Cover and bake for
45 minutes.

Once the peppers are tender, remove the lid and add some of the cheese sauce on top the peppers and
bake for 10 minutes more.


Serve with remaining rice and black beans.

Simple black beans and garlic

1 can drained and rinsed black beans
1 chopped garlic clove
sauteed in pan until hot.
adding water as needed so they won't dry out.

Yes even my boys ate these. Even when the youngest one first choice was  a PBJ.

TOFU STROGANOFF

Tonight I decided to make something I hadn't made in many years. Tofu Stroganoff! I buy the extra firm already cubed tofu. First I drain the tofu and place it on a kitchen towel for at least 30 minutes before I make dinner. The dryer the better.

Simmer on low heat

1 box extra firm cubed tofu drained & dried
1 box linguine or Alfredo pasta
4-6 mini portabella mushrooms
2 garlic cloves diced
1/2 diced onion
1/2 bag washed fresh spinach (frozen but thawed drained spinach will work too)
1/2 shredded carrot (optional)
2 large TBSP non dairy/or regular sour cream or ricotta cheese
1 1/2 cups plain soy milk (or whatever you use for milk)
sea salt and cracked pepper
1 TBSP Balsamic vinegar (optional)


Placed the cubed tofu on a greased baking sheet. Season with garlic powder. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes. Remove and sit aside. This is the best way I have found to cook the tofu to make it chewy like in a restaurant.


                                             Boil water and sea salt for your pasta-

Add sauce to the pasta

Start by saute' the mushrooms, onion, garlic & carrot in a pan on medium heat. 
When the veggies are tender, add the spinach until it is steamed.
Add the milk, stirring, then add the sour cream or ricotta cheese.
Salt and Pepper to taste, splash of the balsamic for richness and turn down to simmer on low heat, It will thicken when it meets the pasta.

I have to pick out the mushrooms for the boys.

Cook and drain your pasta. Then add the sauce over the pasta. It was enough for dinner, lunch the next day and still another helping.

Bon Appetit!!

VEGGIE PIZZA INDIVIDUAL BITES

Last night I got my oven fixed. The bottom bake element went out this winter and I have not been able to bake for several months. I bought the element off Ebay for $42. I thought that was a good deal with free shipping. It was very easy to replace and I saved a service call of $60. 

We are celebrating my nephews marriage today. He got married in March and because it was out of state, many people could not go.  I am making  cold veggie pizza a different way. Instead of spreading the croissant crust on a sheet pan, I cut it up, rolled it out and put the little squares into my mini muffin pan. They only need to bake at 350 for 8 minutes. Please keep a close eye on them. They can burn quickly.


After they have cooled, pipe (piping bag) the cream cheese mixture which I made of cream cheese or non dairy cream cheese. fresh chives (from my garden) and a dill/cucumber dip mix I had. Hidden Valley Ranch dry package dip mix will work too. I love to add fresh herbs in the mixture since it makes it look pretty. Fresh basil would be good too.

Shredd and dice your veggies small.

Cover and Refrigerate until time to serve.

Immediately, while the dip is soft, add shredded carrot, diced broccoli, diced cucumbers, diced tomato (without the seeds). Try and add colorful veggies. Diced red, yellow, or orange bell peppers will look nice too. Make sure the veggies are small. 


Cover and chill. You can add finely shredded cheese right before you serve them.

Now when I say "Don't make me bake", I really mean it! I cannot seem to have a baking recipe turn out half the time. Even though I have my oven fixed I am looking forward to baking some casseroles, maybe some homemade bread, even a box mix of brownies. The baker in our family is my sister Gail. She was the pastry chef at a 4 star restaurant back in the day when I worked with her. She was also the kitchen manager for several years at Bravo Restaurant. Here is a cake she made today for our nephew and his new wife. It was a very moist marble cake with delicious frosting. 

The party turned out really nice and as usual, we had too much food. 

Taking a break and eating out!

Taking a break from cooking, washing dishes, eating leftovers is just what we all need.
I love to have someone wait on me and be able to relax with my family.
Here are some of our favorite places to eat.......We know the deals, we know where to go for vegetarian food, we know the right time to go. 

Carabbas Italian Grille (we always split meals there and share. Insalata salad and pizza)
Noodles & Company 
Thai Cuisine (before 3:00 pm meals are half the cost)
Big Burrito ( grilled veggie tacos are $2 each)
For a quick lunch: Veggie Burgers at Culver's (makes BK taste like a hockey puck)
Quartino on N. State St. in Chicago http://www.quartinochicago.com/ (tapas small plates)
 (Yes, the 2.5 hr drive is worth it!) I recommend the eggplant parmesan, caprese salad, polenta fries dipped in roasted red pepper sauce.
Jimmy Johns (quick, I mean quick veggie subs)
Kazoopy's Pizza Mattawan (they have a good deal on two large pizzas)
Waterstreet: They have a great deli selection of yummy lunch specialties
Food Dance: Good food, pricey
Zazios: This is a fun place to eat but also pricey
Union Grille: Spinach Feta Burger & Portabella fries are amazing
(part of the millennium restaurants in Kalamazoo.
Oven grilled pizza at Bravo Restaurante', on Portage Road by the airport (I am good friend with the owners, since I used to work for them.)


OTB (On The Border) Grandville, MI 
We like to go up to Rivertown Crossings Mall and when we do...we like to eat at OTB.

I ordered the stuffed qua so pablano pepper 

It is a delicious Mexican grille that has vegetarian options. Instead of re fried beans we get black beans. Instead of the Mexican rice made with chicken stock, they offer cilantro rice. They are always offering vegetarian options and serve plenty of food for your money. One of our favorites there is fajitas. We order 2 and it serves more than 4. They gave the boys a free sundae, & gave a us a new bag of chips and a tub of salsa to take home for free. As we walked out, they gave us a wooden nickle for $5 off our next purchase. They were extra nice!!

                                                   

Dan ordered a custom made grilled veggie burrito

CARRABBAS TAG PIC PAC $10

CARRABBAS KIDS ALFREDO $5

SPLITTING AN OVEN FIRED CARRABBAS PIZZA IS A CHEAPER WAY TO EAT OUT. TWO TOPPING $9

There are many many more places we like to eat and I will update this part of my blog as I have time. 

PASTA SAUCE

Add fresh veggies and herbs to saute'

A little heat (these are my Thai chilies that I dried and ground from my garden)

Ground dried herbs.

Add fresh or canned tomatoes

sea salt & pepper

Cook your favorite pasta

Simmer the sauce until all veggies are tender and tomatoes and herbs marry. 

Come & get it!!