Not everyone like vegetables. I'm here to say those people probably love off canned ones. Or really bad produce. Good veggies cooked right are awesome. And Sesame Green Beans are one of those that are 5 star. Simple, easy, tasty and a stable of most asian buffets for good reason. I got lucky because Costco started carrying bags of prewashed and stemmed fresh green beans. As soon as I saw them, I knew I'd be recipe hunting. And now that I'm posting this I wish I had snapped a picture.
Now, there are plenty of variations of this recipe out there, so feel free to shop. I simply made sure the one I picked had sesame oil in it, as not all of them do. But I was very happy with the results. The only change I'd make is possibly skipping the sesame seeds. They don't do anything for me and create a mess.
Japanese Style Sesame Green Beans
Now, I didn't just make green beans and eat them for days. I also made some Mandarin Chicken. It came out "okay" As in, I ate it all but I'll never make it again and I'm not linking it. There was no orange taste to it though everything was cooked nicely. I'll probably look for another recipe some other day.
Monday, March 24, 2014
Butternut Squash and Turkey
I admit, I've been waffling about posting this one. I made it and it still sounds weird to me. But, well, I wanted to cook something with butternut squash a couple weeks ago. So I popped open Allrecipes.com and plugged it in. The first recipe that pops up also uses ground turkey. And I have packets of that from Costco in the fridge. But, it was in the form of an Autumn Chili.
Yikes?
No Really, Turkey chili with Butternut Squash
So I figured what the hell, I'll try it. And it wasn't half bad. It was pretty filling. But I'll admit, I felt like it needed something. I had some leftover Sour Cream and I'd put a little bit on it. It helped. I think if I made this again I'd be tempted to switch out some of the Chicken Broth for milk or some such. Basically, I just want to treat it like a stew instead of chili. Somehow, thinking of it as chili bothers me. Snobby? Maybe. But it does!
I'm going to go ahead and give it 4 stars though. While it wasn't something I'd take to a potluck, I'm pretty sure browsing the comments section on allrecipes would give me some good ideas to improve it to my taste.
Yikes?
No Really, Turkey chili with Butternut Squash
So I figured what the hell, I'll try it. And it wasn't half bad. It was pretty filling. But I'll admit, I felt like it needed something. I had some leftover Sour Cream and I'd put a little bit on it. It helped. I think if I made this again I'd be tempted to switch out some of the Chicken Broth for milk or some such. Basically, I just want to treat it like a stew instead of chili. Somehow, thinking of it as chili bothers me. Snobby? Maybe. But it does!
I'm going to go ahead and give it 4 stars though. While it wasn't something I'd take to a potluck, I'm pretty sure browsing the comments section on allrecipes would give me some good ideas to improve it to my taste.
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
Tea Bread
If people know one thing about me, it's I love my tea. And I make baked goods. Despite the baking, I've never tried bread. But after getting addicted to Orrowheat bread and seeing it rise to 5$ a pop, I decided to try my hand at baking my own. I was very concerned I'd create a dough-splosion in my kitchen. But it was far, far easier than I thought!
And of course, after getting confident, I had to look up adding tea to it. :3 Sure enough, not only did Google produce recipes but using some old chai I had. So, double bonus! Use up some old chai, have uber toast!
But enough of that, here's the basic recipe I picked to use for bread.
Amish White Bread
Based on the comments for it, I tend to cut the sugar in half. I also proof my yeast by using my Hotshot to heat the water to 100 degrees then mixing it in a little pyrex measuring cup. Making it into Tea bread was very simple, simply cut open two tea bags and dump it into the water that is used to proof the yeast. Yes, dump it in. The tea recipe I found had a good point. You don't boil oregano or basil in water to use the spice, you dump it in.
For this trial, I was using one pack of Twinings French Vanilla Chai and one Pumpkin Spice Chai. I cut the sugar by about 1/3 and cut the recipe in half for one loaf.
And as you can see from the loaf, the tea adds nice little specks all through out.
Yes, I am proud this turned out so pretty. As far as tasty, to be honest I would not have bitten into this and immediately said, "Hey! This has tea/chai in it!" It has a very nice light taste to it and it smells awesome. I think it's a fun little trick to do, I might try adding another teabag next time for more oomph.
One last little thought. Having lived through a household period of, Eat Wheat Bread or Nothing... if you live with someone that is a wheat bread snob, you can use this trick to disguise your white bread. Between the specs and the browner color, it looks like wheat. :D
I'd stay away from the chai though, the ginger smell might give it away.
One last note I do want to touch on cost again. I can get 20lb of flour for about 14$, organic and unbleached. And I could easily get a bigger 40lb bag for less. So, three OrroWheat loaf for 5$ or... make myself over a dozen loaves, biscuits, pie crust or whatever I want. Easy choice.
And of course, after getting confident, I had to look up adding tea to it. :3 Sure enough, not only did Google produce recipes but using some old chai I had. So, double bonus! Use up some old chai, have uber toast!
But enough of that, here's the basic recipe I picked to use for bread.
Amish White Bread
Based on the comments for it, I tend to cut the sugar in half. I also proof my yeast by using my Hotshot to heat the water to 100 degrees then mixing it in a little pyrex measuring cup. Making it into Tea bread was very simple, simply cut open two tea bags and dump it into the water that is used to proof the yeast. Yes, dump it in. The tea recipe I found had a good point. You don't boil oregano or basil in water to use the spice, you dump it in.
For this trial, I was using one pack of Twinings French Vanilla Chai and one Pumpkin Spice Chai. I cut the sugar by about 1/3 and cut the recipe in half for one loaf.
And as you can see from the loaf, the tea adds nice little specks all through out.
Yes, I am proud this turned out so pretty. As far as tasty, to be honest I would not have bitten into this and immediately said, "Hey! This has tea/chai in it!" It has a very nice light taste to it and it smells awesome. I think it's a fun little trick to do, I might try adding another teabag next time for more oomph.
One last little thought. Having lived through a household period of, Eat Wheat Bread or Nothing... if you live with someone that is a wheat bread snob, you can use this trick to disguise your white bread. Between the specs and the browner color, it looks like wheat. :D
I'd stay away from the chai though, the ginger smell might give it away.
One last note I do want to touch on cost again. I can get 20lb of flour for about 14$, organic and unbleached. And I could easily get a bigger 40lb bag for less. So, three OrroWheat loaf for 5$ or... make myself over a dozen loaves, biscuits, pie crust or whatever I want. Easy choice.
Of Cats and Turtles
Pets are part of the holidays. That's a fact. And this year my cat was given a little stuffed turtle with a pocket for catnip. I caught her napping while using it as a pillow. So cute! And I really tried to get a picture with her eyes closed... but no, even with her hearing going the moment the camera beeped they'd pop open with that "What is that and why are you pointing it at me" look. Bah.
Cameras need a stealth mode.
Cameras need a stealth mode.
Sunday, March 9, 2014
Welcome!
If you came to visit, well thank you! Rather than rehash what I'm up to here, let's get down to it. Now my initial idea was to post what I was doing each week and what I thought of it. But, now that we are 3 months in, I've already tried several new recipes. And I do want to share what I learned from a few of them. Just well, not all at once. I think that would be overkill. So I'm going to start with what most people know me for. Cookies.
Oatmeal Spice Mix
1 1/2 Tablespoons Truvia (or similar Stevia sweetener to taste)
1 Teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons Cinnamon
2 Teaspoons Nutmeg
1 Teaspoon Cloves
Optional: 1 packet of vanilla breakfast shake mix
Directions: Add all to jar and shake. Add 1 teaspoon to heated water before adding oatmeal. You can do it after, but the salt/sweetener dissolves better this way.
I know, it's not a cookie. But it came from one! Let me explain.
At Christmas, I make a lot of cookies for people. This year, one was a classic Oatmeal Raisin. They tasted great, but they thin and fell apart. So I had to find another recipe. But, I really liked the taste from the first one. So I took the flour etc from the second, but kept the spices from the first. It worked like a charm!
And I had a huge box of oatmeal leftover. Hmm!
In my pantry, I also have a stash of empty herb jars that my sister gave me. :D
You might see where this is heading. I looked at the basic oatmeal directions, salt, and water, mixed in the cookie spices and some Truvia brand sweetener. Genius! Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Breakfast!
Truvia, btw, is stevia. Stevia is a natural and potent sweetener derived from a plant, globally used and finally picking up steam in the US. It's virtually 0 calorie. I can't say that I like it in everything, but I couldn't tell the difference in the oatmeal. And since it's potent, it fits nicely in the spice jar as we don't need much. It's also diabetic friendly.
But, back to the cookies! I also borrowed a little of the cooking method. My old cookie cookbook had a tip to simmer the raisins in water, to plump them up, before mixing them into the batter. They are 100% better this way, I promise. In the time that it takes to bring the water to boil and cook the oatmeal, the raisins are nice and plump. I suspect that even if you microwave your oatmeal, you'd find this to be true. Personally, I use the stovetop. Though, I cheat and preheat my water with my Hotshot teamaker to get it to boil a bit faster. A coffee maker's hot water spot would work too.
From my Christmas cookies I got a very tasty and delicious oatmeal recipe that is pretty low-calorie. Far better than the expensive sugar laden pouches for sale in the store. And no more difficult to make, at all.
That's what cooking experience does for you. Once you know what spices you like, you can apply them in other places. Now most of my other posts will likely be straight up recipes,but this is all new to me, so who knows? Rather than get too wordy, I'll sign this off with a list of last week and next week's goodies. I'll probably update this again next weekend. Feel free to comment and email me any suggestions or critiques on this!
Last weeks meals were: Mandarin Chicken. Sesame Green Beans. Baked Buffalo Chicken. Herbed Potato Salad. Spinach Feta Bread. Apple Brie Braid. This week I'm trying a Turkey Butternut Squash Chili and some Spring Rolls.
If you came to visit, well thank you! Rather than rehash what I'm up to here, let's get down to it. Now my initial idea was to post what I was doing each week and what I thought of it. But, now that we are 3 months in, I've already tried several new recipes. And I do want to share what I learned from a few of them. Just well, not all at once. I think that would be overkill. So I'm going to start with what most people know me for. Cookies.
Oatmeal Spice Mix
1 1/2 Tablespoons Truvia (or similar Stevia sweetener to taste)
1 Teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons Cinnamon
2 Teaspoons Nutmeg
1 Teaspoon Cloves
Optional: 1 packet of vanilla breakfast shake mix
Directions: Add all to jar and shake. Add 1 teaspoon to heated water before adding oatmeal. You can do it after, but the salt/sweetener dissolves better this way.
I know, it's not a cookie. But it came from one! Let me explain.
At Christmas, I make a lot of cookies for people. This year, one was a classic Oatmeal Raisin. They tasted great, but they thin and fell apart. So I had to find another recipe. But, I really liked the taste from the first one. So I took the flour etc from the second, but kept the spices from the first. It worked like a charm!
And I had a huge box of oatmeal leftover. Hmm!
In my pantry, I also have a stash of empty herb jars that my sister gave me. :D
You might see where this is heading. I looked at the basic oatmeal directions, salt, and water, mixed in the cookie spices and some Truvia brand sweetener. Genius! Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Breakfast!
Truvia, btw, is stevia. Stevia is a natural and potent sweetener derived from a plant, globally used and finally picking up steam in the US. It's virtually 0 calorie. I can't say that I like it in everything, but I couldn't tell the difference in the oatmeal. And since it's potent, it fits nicely in the spice jar as we don't need much. It's also diabetic friendly.
But, back to the cookies! I also borrowed a little of the cooking method. My old cookie cookbook had a tip to simmer the raisins in water, to plump them up, before mixing them into the batter. They are 100% better this way, I promise. In the time that it takes to bring the water to boil and cook the oatmeal, the raisins are nice and plump. I suspect that even if you microwave your oatmeal, you'd find this to be true. Personally, I use the stovetop. Though, I cheat and preheat my water with my Hotshot teamaker to get it to boil a bit faster. A coffee maker's hot water spot would work too.
From my Christmas cookies I got a very tasty and delicious oatmeal recipe that is pretty low-calorie. Far better than the expensive sugar laden pouches for sale in the store. And no more difficult to make, at all.
That's what cooking experience does for you. Once you know what spices you like, you can apply them in other places. Now most of my other posts will likely be straight up recipes,but this is all new to me, so who knows? Rather than get too wordy, I'll sign this off with a list of last week and next week's goodies. I'll probably update this again next weekend. Feel free to comment and email me any suggestions or critiques on this!
Last weeks meals were: Mandarin Chicken. Sesame Green Beans. Baked Buffalo Chicken. Herbed Potato Salad. Spinach Feta Bread. Apple Brie Braid. This week I'm trying a Turkey Butternut Squash Chili and some Spring Rolls.
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