New Years Eve breakfast

Happy New Years Eve!  We are in Troy at the moment trying to recuperate a bit before going back and finishing these moves.  How is it possible to collect so much junk in just a year and a half?  But we are in the home stretch.  We have completely moved 3 rooms, cleaned 2.  The main challenge left is the kitchen.  I just hope I can find room to store everything in my apt with no storage.

This morning for breakfast, I decided I needed to use the brussels sprouts.  I cooked them in the microwave until just cooked.  Then quartered them.  Cut up some leftover cheesesticks (yeah, I know).  Then took 2 whole eggs and 4 egg whites and scrambled them with Mrs. Dash and some seasoned salt.  Combined it all and cooked over a medium heat.  I didn't take a picture because it wasn't very pretty looking, but it tasted good. 

A couple more days and I will be able to get back to my life again, including cooking and researching CSA programs for friends.

Christmas morning

One of our favorite traditions on Christmas morning is getting into our stockings.  Every year, even after all these years, my mom puts together stockings for each of us.  This year, it was a little different than usual.  We usually get fruits, nuts, chocolates and a few small gifts.  But this year, I found a red pepper inside my stocking and then another bag on the side that contained a bag of brussels sprouts and another red pepper!  I think that someone is reading my blog!  Thanks Mom!

I now have quite a number of brussels sprouts to play with since I also received a stalk of late brussels in this week's package.  So, I am going to do some research and find a few more recipes to use them, although I really did like the brussels leaves and quinoa recipe I used before. 

I have had a request from my sister for CSA programs in the Lansing area.  I will be researching that and reporting what I find here as well as highlighting a couple stores that I have recently learned about that are owned by acquaintences.  So stay tuned and a very Merry Christmas to you all!!!!

Beef Stew in the Crockpot

I finally have a day that I can do some cooking and get gifts finished.  Maybe today, on Christmas Eve no less, I can finally get into the holiday spirit.  I thawed the beef roast that I received two weeks ago and it is now in the crockpot with a bunch of other CSA veggies cooking into a stew.   Here is the recipe:

 

Crockpot Beef Stew

• 1 3-lb chuck blade roast
• 8 cups water
• 4 medium carrots, large dice
• 4 stalks celery, sliced thick (I had done this and frozen them several weeks ago)
• 6 small red peppers, sliced (also frozen)
• 1 lb fingerling potatoes (larger ones cut into 1" pieces)
• 5 small to medium red onions
• 1 tbsp basil
• 1 tsp oregano
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tbsp garlic powder (I don't have fresh garlic available)

 

Prepare the vegetables as follows: carrots and celery in thick slices, potatoes either whole or cut to 1" pieces, red peppers sliced to 1" slices and red onions halved or quartered (depending on size).  Place vegetables into crock, add water and place roast on top.  Add spices and cover and cook 3-4 hours on high.  Remove roast and cut into bite-sized pieces.  Add meat back to crock and cook on LOW for 1-2 more hours.

 

Normally I would increase heat to HIGH again and add 1 cup barley (cook for 1 hour on HIGH).  Unfortunately, I also don't have barley here, so we will have to "suffer" without.  I also do not have red wine here, so I will check spices once the initial cooking is done and adjust as needed.

 

I am working on a pair of leg warmers as a gift for my mother-in-law while waiting for the stew to cook.  I hope I can complete them.  I cannot believe that I am just now making her gift this year!  It has been a crazy end of the year.

 

I want to wish all of my readers a very Merry Christmas.  We finish the moving next week and then I will have to get busy cooking again.  I am a couple packages behind on using my CSA packages and they are enticing me to do some serious cooking!

Hoping for some highlights

I just found out that a friend of mine has opened an organic food shop in my home town of Midland, MI.  I have contacted him to see if I can get the inside "scoop".  I would like to start highlighting companies and stores that deal with CSA programs and sustainable practices.  So stay tuned for what, hopefully, will be informative articles about companies that may be near you!!!!

Craziness

I feel bad because I have been away for so long.  After the meeting in Orlando, I had to immediately get to work on a grant application.  That was finished, then we had to move my stuff to my new apartment.  And now the holidays are upon us.  Since we are traveling and then doing a second move for my husband back to Michigan, I think it's going to be a while before I get any time to do any cooking.  Thankfully, most of what I've gotten either stores well or freezes well. 

Here is the next package to be picked up this week:

-          1 whole spent hen
-          2 packs Mrs Miller wide egg noodles
-          1 mini-wheel of brie, 6 to 8 ozs
-          1 half pint pepper butter
-          1 lb grassfed ground beef
-          1 lb pork sausage, southern seasoned and in casing
-          2 lbs green tomatoes
-          1 stalk brussel sprouts
-          1 lb organic spelt granola
-          1 lb fresh pasta

The spent hen is supposed to be especially good for soup and stock.  So I am looking forward to making some good homemade chicken soup.  We don't know what kind of pasta yet.  And I am still trying to decide what to do with the sweet potato pasta I received in the last package.  I am thinking a butternut squash sage sauce of some sort.  I am excited about having more brussels sprouts to play with.  I do love some brussels sprouts!

Breakfast in Troy

I almost forgot that Trevor told us there would be a quiche in this week's package.  I didn't tell my husband, who picked up the package.  When he got home, I received a text that simply said "Quiche!".  We had to take a load of stuff to Troy (MI) this weekend and be here to have the cable set up, so I decided we would take the quiche to have for breakfast both this morning and tomorrow.  Here are some pictures of the beautiful Cheese and Onion Quiche.

This beautiful quiche was made by Humble Pie Baking Company (http://www.facebook.com/HumblePieBakingCompany?v=wall#!/HumblePieBakingCompany?v=app_4949752878) in Avon Lake, OH.  This company makes pies and quiches with local produce.  Their crusts are made with organic flour and sugar.  The lard is from locally raised pigs and they use only RBGH butter.  There are six locations (including Fresh Fork Market's CSA program) where you can get their pies and quiches.  These locations include Tremont Farmers' Market and the Country Conservancy Farmers' Market in Howe Meadow.

It was so good, it has inspired me to try and come up with my own version.  I will make the crust with that beautiful red wheat pastry flour and butter I received in the last package.  And this package we received some beautiful red and yellow onions.  So, bear with me.  I will post a recipe and pictures once we get back to Cleveland and I have time to give it a go!

An idea for slow cooker pot roast

I just had a request from my friend Leland to post my recipe for pot roast in the slow cooker.  This is a recipe that I actually developed for English style beef short ribs, but found that it works just as well for pot roast.  The dry rub can be adjusted based on your tastes in chili seasonings.  But I like cumin, so I am more likely to add more of that than less.  I believe the original idea came from Better Homes and Gardens, but I just looked at the recipe and it is quite different from my final version.  However, if you are interested in the recipe that started all of this, you can find it at: http://www.bhg.com/recipe/beef/sizzling-southwest-short-ribs/

Southwest Crockpot Pot Roast Recipe 

• 3 lb Beef roast
• Chili seasonings/Beef Dry Rub (see recipe below)
• 1 can Rotel tomatoes with chiles
• 1 cup salsa
• 1/4 cup cider vinegar

Rinse beef roast and dry carefully.  Rub with chili seasonings.  Spray your crockpot with cooking spray and place the roast inside.  Cover and cook 4-6 hours on LOW.  Mix tomatoes, salsa and vinegar and pour over roast.  Cover and cook an additional 3-4 hours on LOW. 

Chili seasonings/beef dry rub (this recipe can be made in larger quantities using the same proportions of ingredients) 

• 1 Tbsp chili powder
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1/2 tsp cumin (this can be adjusted to taste)
• 1/8 tsp cayenne
• 1/4 tsp dry thyme
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tbsp minced garlic (dried)

Mix seasonings in a small bowl.  Heat a small dry saute pan over medium heat.  Add seasonings and cook, stirring, until they release their aroma.  Quickly remove from the heat so you do not burn them.  Let them cool and then store in a sealed container or bag.  Possible uses: 

1)Use 2 tbsp in a standard chili recipe in place of the seasonings.

2) Use as a dry rub on beef roast or ribs.

3) Use as an alternative dry rub for pork ribs.

CSA Package #4 (my #3)

So, I received the list of things in the next CSA package today.  I guess my husband will have to pick it up for me again because we are headed to Michigan this weekend for a race.  But here are the contents:

Winter CSA Wk 4 Selection
-          Assorted Grassfed Beef Roast, approximately 3 lbs
-          Quiche Loraine, full size
-          Mild Salsa, 1 pint (made entirely from local ingredients at Maize Valley Farm in Hartville)
-          Quarter Peck Jonagold apples
-          2 lbs sweet potatoes
-          2 lbs red and yellow onions
-          1 lb sweet potato linguini
-          1 lb carrots (no tops)
-          1 lb red beets (no tops)

More beets, just in time to make more borscht for Christmas.  And it looks like it will be a stew week as well.  I have an tried and true beef and barley stew that I haven't made in ages.  I will post the recipe here.  The stew will use some of the items from my first package that I froze. 

Gone to a meeting

I just wanted to post something here to let you know that I am heading out to a meeting in about an hour.  I won't be back to the house until next Thursday, so I won't be doing any cooking.  However, I am taking my tablet PC with me and will try to make some other posts while in sunny Florida!  I will miss having my fresh food this week!!!

This morning for breakfast, I used a bit more of the spinach and one of the eggs.  I have a GT-Express cooker, so I took about a cup of spinach and put it in the bottom of the pan.  Then I cracked my egg over the spinach and added about an ounce of Italian blend cheese and cooked it for 10 minutes.  When it was done cooking, I put it on an Arnolds (r) Sandwich Thin.  So yummy!  The WW PointsPlus value is 7 and it is very satisfying.  Now to have a tangerine (0 points) and I will be really satisfied!

Back to my packing...need my swimsuit and goggles!  Going to be a bit chilly for swimming, but it never phased me when I was a kid!

My version of the Pesto Lasagna

Okay, well, I took the time this morning to go ahead and make the Pesto lasagna that I posted the other night, but I adapted it to use more ingredients from my CSA (I still had chicken to use up).  So, here is the recipe as I adapted it and a picture of the whole lasagna:

Pesto Spinach Chicken Lasagna

Adapted from Better Homes & Garden

• 12 dried regular or whole wheat lasagna noodles
• 1 recipe Lemon-Parsley Pesto (see recipe below) or 1 cup purchased pesto
• 1 egg, slightly beaten
• 1 15-ounce container ricotta cheese
• 1 8-ounce package shredded Italian blend cheese or mozzarella cheese (2 cups)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• Nonstick cooking spray
• 2 cups chopped fresh spinach
• 1/2 of an 8-ounce package fresh mushrooms, thinly sliced
• 2 cups leftover chicken, shredded
• 1 28-ounce can whole Italian-style tomatoes
• Fresh Italian (flat-leaf) parsley leaves (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. In a 4-quart or larger pot cook noodles according to package directions until just tender. Drain noodles; rinse with cold water. Drain well; set aside.

Prepare Lemon-Parsley Pesto; set aside. In a medium bowl stir together egg, ricotta cheese, 1 cup of the shredded Italian blend cheese, salt, and pepper; set aside.

To assemble lasagna, lightly coat the inside of a 9-inch springform pan or 13x9x2-inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. Arrange 4 of the cooked noodles in the bottom of the pan, trimming and overlapping as necessary to cover bottom of pan with 1 layer of noodles. Top with spinach. Spoon half of the ricotta cheese mixture over spinach, spreading evenly. Spoon one-third of the pesto over ricotta layer, spreading evenly. Top with another layer of noodles, trimming to fit. Top with mushrooms and chicken. Spread remaining ricotta cheese mixture over mushrooms. Spread half of the remaining pesto over ricotta layer. Top with another layer of noodles and remaining pesto. Drain tomatoes. Slice, quarter, or halve tomatoes and place on top of layers.

Place pan in a foil-lined shallow baking pan. Bake, covered with foil, in a 375 degrees F oven for 40 minutes; uncover and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake, uncovered, 5 minutes more or until cheese is melted and lasagna is heated through. Makes 8 to 10 servings.

Nutrition (8 servings): Calories 513, Fat 26g, Carbs 42g, Fiber 4g, Protein 29g
Weight Watchers PointsPlus Value: 16

Now that we have eaten some, I would make some major changes to this recipe.  The pesto really didn't add anything to the flavor profile.  I think I would choose to just use fresh basil leaves instead.  And there wasn't nearly enough tomatoes.  I would add a layer of tomatoes in the middle too.  But it was very tasty and very hearty.  A good 16 points spent, I believe.