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I have been thinking a lot about food lately. Funny I know. I write a food blog (sometimes). I cook a lot. It seems natural that food should be on my mind. But my thought have been running a little deeper.
I have been thinking about food as it relates to my personal journey to health.
I have been thinking about food as it relates to my relationship with God.
I have been thinking about the fact that even though I have lost 100 pounds that I still struggle with food and my view of it every day.
I have been reading a book called Women Food and God and have been having small epiphanies about myself and how I have used food as a comfort and security blanket for a long time.
My pastor has often talked about good things God has given us that we as humans have taken and made profane. It is a phrase I often use because it resonates with me. He says that we have taken things that are sacred and have made them profane. Sex, money, food, relationships, and community are all things taken by humans in their sinful nature and made profane.
I am still in the midst of these thoughts, and as always working through them slowly. I will post some resources that I am using if anyone wants to join in discussing this with me.
God, Women and Food by Geneen Roth
Not written from a distinctly Christian view, but interesting non the less.
Paul Matthies has preached some sermons about gluttony at my church. These have been helpful to me as I am thinking through these issues.
The same friend who recommended the Roth book told me about this one as well. I have yet to read it, but I have picked it up from the library.
In the midst of all of this I am in the middle of writing my thesis for my masters degree. My thesis is a study of nutrition and fitness education (a curriculum we call Fitnessistas) with 5th and 6th grade girls aiming to help them to be able to make healthier decisions about their health. I am learning a lot as I hear their struggles and perceptions of health and fitness. It is humbling and exhilarating.
And a recipe, because this is supposed to be a food blog…
I got to work last night to make a muffin inspired by my Jamaican neighbor from Philadelphia. I was in Philly a few weeks ago and got to go to Marjorie’s house and she of course came out of the kitchen carrying a piece of cake. She always made wonderful rum cake and other ‘healthy’ whole wheat treats. The cake she gave me a few weeks ago had shredded carrots and ginger, and I loved it.
Warning. These “muffins” were an experiment to make something sweet that was more ‘whole’ food based. Less sugar, flour, and fat. Because of this they are not typical muffins and came out dense and moist. I put them in the freezer for a quick sweet treat and warmed one up in the microwave this morning for a nice addition to my breakfast.
Jamaican Sunshine Muffins
Ingredients:
3 carrots shredded
1 small piece of ginger grated
2 medium bananas
1 cup oatmeal flour (1 cup of oats grinded fine in the food processor) (flour would substitute)
1/2 cup almond meal (flour would work for this as well)
1/2 cup almond milk
1 Tbs flax seed meal
1.5 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cardamom
1 tsp cinnamon
1/8 cup honey (or agave/maple syrup)
Directions:
In one bowl mash the bananas until smooth. Mix with the grated carrots and ginger until combined.
Add the almond milk and flax seed meal and let set.
In a separate bowl combine the dry ingredients and mix.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixing until just combined.
Scoop the batter into a muffin tin with liners.
Bake at 350 degrees for 23 minutes.
Let cool and enjoy. They freeze well.
Makes 12 muffins
That is around 100 calories, and a heck of a lot better for you than a 100 calorie pack of processed junk.
WW p+= 2 or 3 (2 on weight watchers website and 3 if the nutrition info is added)
I just spent a wonderful weekend with most of my closest friends from college. It was a great weekend full of lots of ‘ings’. Talk-ing, laugh-ing, cook-ing, eat-ing, runn-ing, shopp-ing, gig-ing, walk-ing, drink-ing, driv-ing (not at the same time), brunch-ing, and of course church-ing.
We had lots of laughs remember how ridiculous we (mostly me) were in college. Some funny memories included…
“Remember that time Rachel thought she was going to Fritch for the weekend and ended up staying 10 days?”
“Remember when Brooke brought all her American Girl dolls to display in the dinning room?”
“Remember when we had a piñata dance party at Rudder fountain?”
“Remember when Catlin and Rebekah bought giant tubs of muffin top cereal?”
“Remember when we all worked for the OIO?”
many more memories were mentioned of course, but I have a horrible memory; especially for quoting people and movies. The other day I kept trying to get Brooke to guess the one movie quote I could think of…… Here is your test. Name this movie.
“George, she landed.”
(answer at the bottom of this post)
Me and Ke Ke
The girls humping it as we watch the Aggies beat Nebraska.
After a ritual brunch at Dream Cafe.
And a recipe that was completed with some of these lovely ladies…
Quick and Easy Sweet Potatoes
Ingredients:
6 to 7 medium sweet potatoes
1 cup orange juice
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
3 dashes nutmeg
3 dashes cloves
1/4 cup canola oil
1 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
Directions:
Peel your potatoes.
Chop your potatoes.
Boil potatoes until soft and drain.
Mash your potatoes (and scoop them back into the bowl as they continue to fall out)
Mash some more.
Let your good friend Bre mash (Who just got into med school! Whoop!)
Encourage your roommate with recently dilated eyes as she writes her graduation invitations.
Cheer on your other roommate as she irons in the kitchen.
Ok….
After things are mashed add the spices, orange juice, and maple syrup.
Pour this into a 9×13 baking pan.
Combine flour, oil, nuts, and sugar. Mix together and then sprinkle over the top of the potatoes.
Bake in a 350 degree oven until crusty (about 30 minutes).
Yum!
I am leaving for Amarillo Wednesday and I can’t wait for a family thanksgiving and some early morning Turkey Trot action on Thursday. Hopefully I will be inspired to update this weekend with all of the happenings of the panhandle.
Oh, and the movie quote…Father of the Bride. Duh.
Sometimes I sit and try to think about funny things that have happened to me. Sometimes I confuse things that really happen with things that I dream about. A friend recently told me that my stylish winter boots look like corps boots (if you didn’t go to A&M this is not necessarily a complement).
Speaking of A&M I was recently (Friday night) at a Christian conference (right now) helping a friend named Anne recruit for Mission Year (www.missionyear.org). I spent a year with mission year in Philadelphia and am a huge supporter of the organization. Anyway’s, Anne was in town for this conference and she asked if she could stay with us. Little did she know that staying with me would include long awkward conversations that take place while I make three different kinds of baked goods in one night. Anne stood watch while I made a full recipe of chocolate vegan cupcakes with vegan vanilla and peanut butter cream frosting.
Vanilla Buttercream
Peanut Butter Cream
(I made the frosting Peanut Butter by adding a tsp of peanut flour and a TBS of peanut butter).
She also sat there as I continued to bake whoopie pies with the same vanilla and peanut butter cream frosting in the middle. What can I say I was on a role.
p.s. the whoopie pies are totally worth the effort!
Fast-forward to Friday night. I was at the conference and two gentlemen walked up to the Mission Year table. They asked about Mission Year and seemed interested, though I was confused because they both seemed far out of the age range Mission Year is open to (18-29 I believe). Even weirder was that one of the guys was wearing an Aggie ring…on his left ring finger. I had always assumed that people only wore wedding rings on this finger, but apparently I was mistaken. My thoughts then traveled to the thought that this guy was so dedicated to A&M that he was married to it? But then I quickly told myself that that makes absolutely no sense.
Fast-forward to Saturday night where I am sitting with a table of almost all Aggies telling them this story. As soon as I got to the part about the aggie ring on the marriage finger they all screamed “Stikas”! Which I soon discovered was a secret society of A&M grads (men only I am assuming) that wear their aggie rings on their left hand in order to identify each other. My friend from New York, the only non-aggie in the group was confused and probably disgusted by the crazy Aggie conversation. We then proceeded to talk about ring dunkings and look up you-tube videos of the craziest ones. Watch out for one titled “How not to Dunk you Aggie Ring”. It is like a car wreck that you can’t look away from.
I realize that I claim this is a food blog, and that I just spent several paragraphs talking about Texas A&M University. So now I will endeavor to combine my food blog with my alma mater by giving you a pizza recipe. Of course everyone knows that pizza is the official food of college, so eat up all you young minds of tomorrow…
Cornmeal Pizza Crust
from my friend Martha
Ingredients
Directions
In a small bowl, sprinkle the yeast and sugar over the warm water. Let stand until yeast is dissolved and mixture is foamy, about 10 minutes.
Combine flour, cornmeal, and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the center, and add the yeast mixture and oil. Slowly stir ingredients with a wooden spoon just until dough starts to come together.
Turn out dough on a lightly floured work surface, and knead until smooth and elastic, 7 to 10 minutes.
Divide dough into four 4-ounce balls. Place balls in a shallow oiled bowl, turning to coat with oil; cover with plastic wrap, and let rise 1 hour at room temperature or overnight in the refrigerator.
Preheat oven to 500 degrees.with a pizza stone on lowest rack. Stretch dough into 6- or 7-inch rounds. Sprinkle cornmeal on a pizza peel or inverted baking sheet. Place dough rounds on top, and cover with toppings, as desired.
Tomato Paste.
Add caramelized onions and carrots with garlic and lima beans. For the last step I sprinkled with some cheese and drizzled with some olive oil.
I don’t really recommend the lima beans…I took a chance, and it didn’t turn out so great…Everything else was good though
Slide rounds onto pizza stone, and bake until crust is crisp and golden and toppings are bubbling, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from oven; serve immediately.
Remember when rattails were cool? (for those who didn’t grow up where I did, a rat tail is a long strand of hair that is usually braided. Boys usually have one while keeping the rest of their hair short)
I have a very specific memory of having a crush on a boy in kindergarten based on his possession of a rat tail. I will not reveal his name on this blog because I fear that the news will get back to him and that he might re-grow his rat tail in an effort to woo me.
j/k.
But I really had a rat tail for a brief moment the other day.
I won’t blame you if you throw up in your mouth a little bit when you look at this picture. It is nasty.
You can thank this lady.
Fritch pride.
That lady (Brooke) and this lady (Catlin) (why do I say lady so much?)…
… helped me cook the other day….the recipe?
Soba noodles with Miso glazed vegetables
Ingredients:
2 tbs. Rice wine vinegar
4 tsp. canola oil
1 tbs. Dijon mustard
1 tbs. Miso (found in the refrigerated section in natural food stores)
6 ounces Soba noodles
1 carrots, sliced into thin rounds
1 cup broccoli florets
1/2 cup lima beans
1 block tofu (I used baked Thai peanut tofu, but any kind will do)
Directions
1. Wake up.
2. Prepare the glaze. Put the rice vinegar, oil, mustard and Miso in a blender and puree.
3. Cook the soba noodles according to the directions on the package. Rinse the noodles in cold water until chilled. Drain and place in a serving bowl.
4. Steam all of the veggies you want to include. The carrots will take longer than the broccoli and the broccoli will take longer than the lima beans, so add them accordingly. You can steam either in the microwave or over the stove. Once steamed rinse the vegetables in cold water.
5. Combine the noodles with the vegetables and the glaze. Chill and eat cold.
6. (optional) Separate your noodles into Tupperware.
nutritional information: per serving
220 calories, 6 grams fat, 38 grams carb, 2 grams fiber, 8 grams protein.
Yummy food pictures minus recipes (because I am lazy and because I am writing papers non-stop)
Sick girl sweet potato stew.
Good morning poached egg and toast.
slow roasted sweet tomaters.
This weekend I also went to a wedding. Lots of fun!
Saw some great friends (who are pregnant!) and enjoyed some quality time with my sister. There was a Mexican buffet and at the end of the wedding I noticed that there were several huge tubs of guacamole left over. I couldn’t find a tactful way to approach the subject of taking it, so I left empty handed.
ta ta.
Fall. Halloween. Pumpkins. Candy.
I like the season. Not the biggest fan of Halloween, but I can never really resist the opportunity to wear a costume. It takes me back to the days of playing in the attic in the giant box where we stored old Halloween costumes, and old maternity clothing of my mom’s. The first part of this post has absolutely nothing to do with halloween, just a simple recipe I have been meaning to share, thus the ‘recipe’ noted in the title.
1. The Recipe
First of all, I have a Sunday routine of making something exciting from my cookbook collection to eat for lunch during the week. I like to cook it, put it all in Tupperware to be ready for the week. It’s funny how I love leftovers now. I remember being a kid and feeling sorry for my mom when she was eating leftovers. I should have instead felt sorry for myself who was probably once again eating ‘nachos’ (a.k.a. tostitos covered in shredded cheddar cheese microwave for 30 seconds on a paper plate).
Here is a recent Sunday afternoon creation that turned out really good!
Jamaican Sweet Potato Shepherd’s pie
3 Medium sweet potatoes (peeled and chopped)
1 3/4 teaspoon salt
3 tbs olive oil
1 onion diced
1 bell pepper diced
3 cloves garlic finely chopped
1 tbs ginger (fresh is best)
2 scotch bonnet peppers (cut down each side)
2 bay leaves
1/3 cup water
1 can light coconut milk
1/2 corn kernels
1 can rinsed kidney beans
1 cup green beans (canned or frozen)
2 ripe plantains (black is good with these!) cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 tablespoon curry powder
Directions
1. Take the sweet potato put it in a pot and bring to a boil. Cook about 20 minutes or until tender enough to mash. Drain and put aside when cooked enough.
2. The filling!
Get out a large stockpot and heat it up. Put 2 tbs of the oil, onions, bell pepper, garlic, and ginger in the pot. Saute for 5 minutes over medium high heat.
3. Next to the stock pot add the cut scotch bonnets whole (this is just cooked in for flavoring) the salt, bay leaves, water, green beans, corn, kidney beans, and the plantains and cook for 15 minutes. At this time set the oven to broil.
4. Add the coconut milk and the remaining spices at this point but also take out the peppers and the bay leaves.
5. Now prep the sweet potatoes by putting them in a bowl or pot to mash. Add the remaining tbs of oil and mash em’ up. Think creamy, but chunky.
6. Get a 9×13 pan ready and pour the curry mixture into the bottom. Spread it out evenly. Next use a large spoon to put down dollops of the sweet potato mixture. Once you have it all on spread it as best as you can over the dish. Don’t worry if every bit isn’t covered.
Before potato.
After potato.
7. Bake for 10 minutes or until you see the crust getting golden brown. Let cool then serve and enjoy. This is great re-heated by the way.
2. The costume
We had a really great halloween party on Saturday night here on 8th St. The three hostesses dressed as a tourist, Pepper Ann, and a P.E. teacher from the 90′s. We are nothing if not creative. Unfortunately I can’t find any pictures of the three of us from the evening, but if any surface on facebook I will try to remember to share them.
We of course tried to have some good food out…
A decorate your own cookie station complete with halloween themed sprinkles.
Vegan pumpkin pie brownies, that were very under-whelming.
fresh veg…and hummus in a pumpkin. The hummus was a new recipe with pumpkin and curry added.
An eight layered dip all halloweenish… (courtesy of Catlin)
And then there was this costume Rachel and I stayed up working on. Little did I know that brainstorming with Rachel at work about her being a foot for Halloween would turn into this.
So first I sewed a simple outline of a foot and stuffed the toes. Then Rachel had to get in it of course so we could figure out where to cut a hole for her head.
Me trying to find her face and not laugh too hard…
Why was Rachel a foot you ask…good question…..
She might or might not have been in a costume contest at a Hanson concert. Yes that is the infamous foot costume on stage with Zac Hanson for all the world to see. Sadly the foot did not win the contest, but it was recognized…by Hanson no less…I have now had my 15 minutes of fame.
This is me mad. Or me eating.
This post is a huge collection of my favorite foods, and things I eat often. Some of it is just food that I have taken pictures of and feel like sharing. Ok?
Best. Snack. Ever. I will swear by the combination of
1/2 cup fat free greek yogurt
2 Tbs Rebekah’s Peanut Butter Sauce (recipe to follow)
1 Tbs Real Maple syrup (Aunt Jemmima won’t cut it)
1/4 cup multi-grain chex (or any cereal that strikes your fancy)
Put that in a bowl and make your mouth very happy. I just ate this wonderful combo. Amazing.
Spaghetti squash is weird. I coooked it for.eve.r. and it was still crunchy. Is it supposed to be? I don’t know. It tasted decent and has very few calories.
Kale. Big scary dinosaur looking leafy bunches. I don’t know why it makes me think of dinosaurs for the same reason I don’t know why watching the Golden Girls late at night makes me sick to my stomach.
wash it, tear it up, spread it on a sheet.
Spray with a bit o’ spray. Sprinkle with some S&P.
Put in an oven at 323 degrees for around 20 minutes until it gets crunchy,
And yes it gets crunchy and delicious! Not quiet like a greasy basket of tortilla chips, but close. Actually it isn’t close at all, but you will feel really good eating green ‘chips’.
One full pan of kale cooked down to this little plate.
Sometimes I wake up before work and decide to make myself semi-elaborate breakfasts. I have never been much of a cereal girl. This might have something to do with how in my childhood my sister (who will remain nameless…she is two years older than me and loves horses) made a barricade with the cereal boxes every morning so she could be ‘alone’ while she tried to block out the sounds of us chewing. I don’t remember if this was before or after my mom curled our hair in the kitchen.
Another weird true story. I recently came across a label maker at work and was excited to come up with something that I could make and bring home to trick my roommates with. I decided after many minutes with zero inspiration to write “Rebekah’s cereal”. I went through a phase a few months ago where I was buying 4 kinds of cereal at a time and eating big combined bowls. So I put the label up to be funny and waited for Brooke and Catlin to mention it. Of course they didn’t so I asked Brooke about it. She laughed and told me that her and Catlin had a conversation where they were trying really hard to decide if I was being serious or not. Not serious. I don’t label my cereal. But now that I know I will be taken seriously I might started labeling more things….
Anyway, all this to say I love me some carbs in the morning. Eggs almost completely have my heart, but sometimes I just need pancakes. The mix mentioned above is great! Made with whole wheat and you only need to add water.
Sprinkled with some chia seeds to add some protein and make me feel healthy.
Crisped to a perfect golden brown.
And now the peanut sauce. I have perfect somewhat a savory peanut sauce that I used to make for my roomies in Philly all the time. I saw people in blog-world making a sweet version for breakfast food so I decided to try it.
Essentially it is 1 tbs natural peanut butter to 2 tbs almond milk (any will do).
Microwave it for 17 seconds and mix it up.
Stack your pancakes, cut up a banana, and smother with peanut butter goodness. Tuesday mornings just don’t get better than this!
Sorry to disappoint any fans of sweet potato pie, but this is actually a recipe for sweet potato millet burgers. I seem to have this obsession with making vegetarian burgers. Don’t worry there are still even more recipes out there that I have yet to try! I must say as well that I think these are my favorite burgers yet out of all of the burgers I have tried. Crispy, but not fried. Thick, but not dense. Flavorful, but not overpowering.
Sweet Potato Millet Burgers
(adapted from Whole Foods Market Cookbook)
1 cup dried millet
1 large sweet potato
3 cups water
1 cup cooked navy beans
1/8 cup soy sauce
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 medium grated carrot
1/3 cup sunflower seed
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/8 cup parsley
Take your sweet potato and chop it up. I didn’t bother to peel mine because I know the good stuff is in the skin, but feel free to if skin scares you.
Measure out a cup of millet. I haven’t tried using another grain, but I am sure that it would work well with brown rice and quinoa.
Put your millet and sweet potato in a pot and then add three cups of water. Let it simmer on medium heat for 30 minutes, or until the water is absorbed.
Grate a carrot.
Choose some beans. I am using navy for this recipe.
Rinse the beans well…
And then smash them!
Set aside 1/3 cup of sunflower seeds.
Take the cooked millet and sweet potato…
Put it into the bowl with the beans and add the carrot and sunflower seeds…
And the spices…
Using a 1/3 or 1/2 cup measuring cup scoop the mixture into patties onto a greased cookie sheet.
It should make 8 patties. Spray them with cooking spray and cook for 25 minutes at 400 degrees.
Each burger is around 230 calories and vegan!
Enjoy!
I am heading to San Francisco tomorrow for the Nike Women’s half marathon, so I should have an update soon about how that goes!
Since I have last written I have done some crazy things.
I spent a week in Philadelphia at school (Eastern University) with people from my program (Urban Studies) in classes for my concentration (Community Development). I had a great time with old friends and new ones. I ate some great food. The highlight in the food department might have been this Cambodian dessert (the friends I stayed with live in a Cambodian neighborhood). It was a coconut rice pudding thing that had red beans in it. I assumed that the sweet coconut flavor would complement the beans, but it really just tasted like sweet rice and beans…not my favorite. Despite the questionable dessert it was a great week with great friends.
I got back on a Thursday night and on Friday I went to the Texas State fair. Can you believe that I have lived in Texas almost my entire life, but I had never been to the fair. I was especially excited to try some of the ridiculous fried foods I had always heard about. I hadn’t been following a strict diet when I was in Philadelphia, so I decided one more night wouldn’t hurt anything. Out of all of the food that I saw I knew I wanted to try the fried Oreo (runners up were fried beer, fried pralines, fried honeybuns, and fried watermelon). The fried Oreo did not disappoint! Sinfully delicious.
My homegroup girls!
Ferris wheel!
And of course the fried Oreo. I ordered thinking that I would just get one fried Oreo….but actually there were three in an order!
The next day my friend Kelley came to town and we went to a rangers game! I know how much more Texan can I get! The game was a lot of fun. Much beer and peanuts was consumed. (Bud light lime of course, I am classy like that).
GO Rangers!
peanuts of course.
Friends at the game!
The rangers won….as you can tell by Kelley’s excitement. Actually I think she might have been cheering for the dot race….
After the week and a few days of crazy eating I decided that this week was going to be one of detox and produce heavy eating. I have been trying to balance my food by eating 30% fat, 30% protein, and 40% carbs. This is easier said than done. I also am a little crazy in my eating patterns and have considered going vegan this week. I think it is just a phase, however it has been an interesting experiment to try and eat a balanced diet while eating zero animal products. I am still working through how I feel about veganism, but I do think that whatever I decide I will always be fluid with my diet…always allowing for the occasional fried Oreo and piece of beef jerky…
until next time…
This title makes no sense, even to me, and I wrote it. But alas, that was me a few nights ago. Running around my house like crazy trying to pack for Philly, finish two papers, do my bible study, clean my room, and do laundry. For some reason the less time I have, the more I want to accomplish.
The idea for this dinner started Thursday after work. I left work early and went to buy 8 tickets for a Texas Rangers Game! Yes I did. Believe it. After that I ran to Whole Foods to pick up a few last minute items for my trip to Philly. I of course bought some ridiculous unnecessary items like apple sauce in a pouch and pecan butter. But other than that, on my way out I spotted fresh whole wheat pizza dough. I am almost always tempted to buy this dough, but I always convince myself I can make it at home. This time however I caved.
Pizza it was. Have I mentioned that I love pizza. I really do. Growing up my dad could put together a great homemade pizza. I also have fond memories of my mom letting my sisters and I make biscuit pizzas. And a conversation about pizza cannot be complete without mentioning my childhood favorite pizza pocket.
White Bread, buttered, slathered with pizza sauce, stuffed with pepperonis and cheese smooshed to perfection in a sandwich maker.
My pizza last night was slightly healthier, and might I say slightly more gourmet.
I love pizza almost as much as I love babies.
Have you seen a cuter baby?
I was dying for a chance to slip this picture of Lauren and Miss Ada onto the blog. Comparison to pizza seemed like a good segue.
But I digress…
I started out with the Whole Foods whole wheat dough ball.
I did what they told me and dusted it with flour.
The bag had 8 servings, so I separated the dough into four balls and sent the rest to the freezer for another day
The nutrition facts were good, and more importantly I could pronounce all of the ingredients.
I stretched out the dough very thin….because that is how I like it.
I drizzled it with about 1 teaspoon of olive oil…
…and topped that with minced garlic…
…and topped that with fresh spinach…
…and topped that with fresh tomatoes…
…and topped that with 1/4 cup 2% shredded mozzerella cheese and some sliced green pepper…
This purple basil and fresh egg were put on deck to become future toppers…
Into the oven it went. (425 degrees)
About 9 minutes in i took out the pizza and cracked the fresh egg in the middle and sprinkled my basil on top.
I let it cook I think about 7 more minutes, or just until the white of the egg seemed firmly set without the yolk setting.
This was the finished product.
And it tasted as good as it looks.
Yum. Next time I think I will add some tomato paste or something else as a base. It needed just a little more flavor. The addition of the egg was great though. I think you could put an egg on just about anything and I would like it though!
Last weekend I went to my grandparents house. I always enjoy my visits to Granbury! My grandparents live on the Brazos River, and it is just beautiful. Something that I sometimes do while I am there is look through pictures. I really like looking through pictures albums. I also like looking through high school yearbooks (go SFHS yearbook staff!) and as my uncle enjoys teasing me about, I had a childhood (and lets just say it, adolescent) interest in looking through church directories. Weird I know. But the oddities just intrigued me. I asked myself why certain families had so many kids and questioned if kids in families who didn’t look like anyone else were adopted. I formed crushes on cute boys and felt really sad for the people in the directory who took the pictures by themselves. So anyways, I like pictures.
My grandmother had quiet a few gems of me and my sisters that I just had to let the world (or my 5 readers) see.
No, that is not Sean Connery, that is my Grandfather. And no we are not a Burger King, we are at Medieval Times. Fun fact, that night I caught a flower that a knight threw into the audience. This meant, I think, that I might have been chosen to go down and sit with the Queen? (once again my memories are fuzzy) I remember being paralyzed with fear and letting my cousin Ashley take the flower because I was so scared. Oh, man.
The Welch girls never looked better.
My Grandfather and I laughed at the irony of this one.
It was a great visit.
When I got home Brooke and I made quiche. We had been talking about making it all weekend, and we had all the ingredients ready to go.
I started with the crust…I contemplated store bought but then I went with this Weight Watchers recipe.
Basic Pie Crust
1 cup all purpose flour
2 teaspoons sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter
2 tablespoons cold vegetable shortening
1 teaspoon cider vinegar
3-3 1/2 teaspoons ice water
I started by putting on safety goggles. J/K these are just Brooke’s cool glasses she let me borrow to feel awesome. It of course worked.
I started by putting all the dry ingredients in a big ole’ bowl.
I made sure my butter was cold as the recipes instructions, and cut it into cubes.
I did not make sure that my crisco was cold, because I wasn’t really sure how the accomplish that. And I felt to lazy to figure it out. The recipe does work with lukewarm crisco, so do not fear.
The secret to pie crust is getting that crumbly texture. Add the vinegar first and then add tablespoons of the ice water until thinks clump. I used a fork to accomplish this. Once the clump is sufficient roll it into a ball.
*Note the proportions listed are for a single recipe, but I doubled it. This the two dough balls.
I wrapped the dough balls in plastic and let them chill in the fridge for around an hour. Or maybe 20 minutes.
I then rolled it out. Since I made double recipe I rolled mine out big and put it into a 9×13 pan. The single recipe would work in an 8×8 or a pie pan.
I weighted down the crust with beans and let it cooked at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. I took off the beans and let it cook for 7 more minutes, or until it browned.
Next was the filling.
Vegetable Extravaganza Quiche
Ingredients:
1 can evaporated fat free milk
1/3 cup low fat cottage cheese
1/4 grated mozzarella cheese
2 large eggs
3 egg whites
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 box frozen spinach
1 cup tomatoes
1 cup mushrooms
1 cup diced green peppers
First I cracked and separated all of my eggs.
I love eggs!
I mixed in the cottage cheese and evaporated milk to the soup.
I next started prepping the veggies. I defrosted the spinach by cooking it in the microwave.
I put it in a kitchen towel and squeezed really hard to get all of the moisture out. It left a weird spinach brick, that fortunately didn’t stay that way.
Brooke was the magical veggie slicer.
After the crust cooled ( or at least sat out a few minutes) we started layering on the vegetables.
First the spinach brick crumbled nicely on the base.
sliced Roma tomatoes.
diced green bell pepper.
And a lot of sliced mushrooms.
The ‘egg soup’ mixture was poured on top, and then it was sent to the oven.
20 minutes at 375 degrees and 15 at 325 degrees.
I ended up cooking mine longer, but I think this had a lot to do with the different shaped that mine was in.
The end product! A really terrible picture, but I promise it was a really delicious quiche that I enjoyed all week!
One last picture..Me..in a burnt orange velvet suit…be jealous.
