Humm, humm, Hummus!

Like peanut butter and jelly, like chocolate and strawberries, like Frodo and Sam just like hummus to flat bread these pairings make a great team. Yesterday, I was about to eat all the flat bread by itself when this ominous voice (or just me) said "what about the hummus?"
So here's the Meredith take on hummus. It is a wonderful food, tasty and full of protein, but why waste your money buying it pre-made? Especially when company's often use less then quality ingredients and don't make it to your taste. Plus if you have a food processor, it is super easy and super fast to make.
Here's what you do.
First take a drained 16 oz. canned or 1 1/2 cup cooked garbanzo beans. Toss it in the food possessor with 2 cloves garlic, 3/4 teaspoon of salt (or however much you like, lemon juice (i use about 1/3 cup), 1/3 cup tahini, and whatever spices you want (I'll list mine after this) start the food processor and blend until there are no huge chunks, then slowly pour in about 1/4 cup of olive oil. blend until a smooth creamy paste.javascript:void(0)
my spices
cumin, turmeric, black pepper, and then I sprinkle paprika on top when its done.

flat bread and eggs who would have thought?

Okay, this post is probably going to be on the low end of the amazing scale. I, however, really liked it. Also, I go on cooking streaks and the streak I've been on since Jacob started class has been 'whatever I can make fast while holding my son.' This is TOTALLY one of those meals. All, I did was cook two lightly salted eggs over medium and one well done. I Grab my Tradder Joes flat bread (seriously, so good! Like its the best flat bread I've found to buy including the Indian bakery down the street) and then sat down to eat. It seriously was a good meal for my son and me. Plus, it took hardly anytime! So next time you are hungry and short on time, don't forget about the simple wonders of eggs.

Just a sweet potato

Today, my son and I had a sweet potato with butter on it. I poked it with a fork and cooked it in the microwave for 6 mins. It was simple, good and made us both happy, just like the shortness of this post.

Pizza and salad

It's been a busy weekend for me, but fun. Over the weekend, I was craving Pizza like a teenager at a sleepover. Lucky, for me I still had some spaghetti sauce from when I made pasta, and 1/3lb block of mozzarella cheese from ??? (it was still good). Well, I found this really great and simple whole wheat pizza dough recipe.
1 package if active dry yeast (or for those like me who buy in bulk and store yeast in the freezer it's 2 1/2 teaspoons)
1 cup warm water
1 cup red wheat flour (the dough gets a little to strong flavored and less elastic with any more)
2 cups all-purpose
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 full teaspoons salt

Dissolve yeast in warm water. Then mix in the rest of ingredients. Kneed well (for at least 5 mins) and let rise until it at least doubles in size. Then punch down and separate into 2 balls. let set for about 20 mins. then roll out into a 12 inch circle.
Since it is just Jacob and me, I put one of the balls straight into the fridge after punching it down so we could make our second pizza the next day.
To make the pizza just spread on a thick coating of sauce, grade on some cheese (I used about 1/6 of a 1lb block of mozzarella, but I would have used more if we hadn't been low.) and put in a preheated 400 F oven until crust it cooked and cheese is melted. It is SOOO good. I love pizza!
I also enjoyed a wonderful balsamic vinger Romain and cucumber salad this weekend too. If you haven't tried the simple joy of a little good olive oil and balsamic vinger drizzled on your salad do try. This salad is especially good with goat cheese, but that also makes it a little less healthy and a lot more expensive. Still, when we have the money, it will be goat cheese all the way!

Bean Burritos

Guess what, I found good handmade flour tortillas for a good price! That big pot of beans we make every week has been quickly becoming re-fried beans for burritos. Now I know that the word "re-fried" may sound like it really bad for you, but if you re-fry your own beans it actually doesn't use much fat.
How do you do it? Easy.
First, I take the black or pinto beans I have on hand, out. Then I get out a big skillet, put a bit of olive oil in it (enough to thickly coat the pan), and heat-up the pan over medium-high heat. Then toss in a few big spoonfuls of the beans with a little bit of the juice. while the beans are essentially reheating, I use the bottom end of a fork and mash-up the beans until they look, well like re-fried beans. Put it in a tortilla with a little cheese, salsa, and avocado.
(I don't have my camera back yet, but I will post pictures later)
Also, for those who are interested. Making a pot of beans from dried beans every week can be a big meal and money saver and it is not that hard. The biggest thing is making a habit out of it. Dry beans do need to soak so start them soaking before bed or before work. Then when you wake-up or get home, start them cooking. I will probably talk about our bean making possess later on.
Good eating!

Classic pasta

I don't know what to say about this, other then spaghetti rocks my world! I use whole wheat pasta and I think it tastes better. I always watch for sells then but a whole lot at once. About 1 for an average size box is a good price for good whole wheat pasta. home made is even better, but my pasta maker doesn't work right so I just buy it.
Anyways, here is my recipe for really good marinara sauce. (if you want it to stick to your noodles better try using some tomato paste when you make yours)
2 tablespoons Olive oil, Half an onion,1 fresh tomato and a can of crushed or diced tomatoes or 6 fresh Roma tomatoes, parmesan cheese to taste,2 cloves of garlic, salt (1 and 1/2 teaspoon or so, bay leaf, a teaspoon of molasses or a tablespoon of brown sugar, dash of oregano, thyme, basil, red pepper flakes

thickly Coat the bottom of the medium/small sauce pan with olive oil
over medium heat sauté half a small onion and the fresh tomatoes (diced)
once the onions are soft add the garlic (crushed and minced)
add the canned tomatoes, molasses/brown sugar and a bay leaf. let simmer stirring occasionally (5mins?) then add dry spices and salt.
Continue to simmer and stir occasionally adding fresh spices at the last min.

Against the odds Quiche

So I had a couple of plans for my meal posting today. Both, however, were ruined. I was going to talk about the lovely microwaved sweet potato lunch my son and me have, but I was greedy and picked a really big fat sweet potato (I actually bought the fattest one I saw at the store.) Well, instead of cooking perfectly in the microwave like the normal sized ones do, it remained rock hard in the center. Lets just say I had to cook it in sections. My husband needed some lunch so I ended up cooking some instant roman noodles with the hope that adding broccoli, green onion, and cooking it in broth instead of the salt packets would make it worthy to post. Sadly, when I looked up how they make instant noodles I came to the realization that I just couldn't get by posting it (plus I didn't have broth on hand so I used the sodium on steroids packet.)
As dinner time approached, I was stumped on what I could make for dinner. Then as I gazed at my fridge I saw my eggs and remembered the bag of frozen spinach in the freezer. Spinach Quiche! One problem was my son would be awake and hungry in about 45 mins, which is about how long the quiche takes to cook. That left me with hardly any time for making the crust and prep work. I do have a recipe for a crust-less, bread topped quiche, but I wanted crust darn it!
So After preheating the oven to 425, with pastry cutter in hand I made pie crust faster then I ever have. I didn't have space to roll it out properly so i flattened it a bit and then used the 'little kid' method of pie rolling, which is put the pie in the pan and mold it like play-do. believe it or not that turned out a good crust. After starting the pie I realized I didn't have all the ingredients, like cream (or milk) and Swiss cheese, so I substituted the cream for powder milk with a little less water then asked for, a dash of olive oil, and an extra egg in the recipe for insurance. I used cheddar cheese for the Swiss and I would have used parmigiana if mine hadn't turned hard as a rock from leaving it unwrapped. Oh I also ran out of black pepper so I put in a little cumin and I put in garlic powder just for kicks. By the time the crust was half way cooked, the filling was ready. It turned out really, really good. In fact I might do the powdered milk substitution more often so I don't have to waste milk.
well here's the normal recipe. Don't be afraid to make changes!
crust: 1 1/2 cup flour, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/2 cup butter, 3-4 tablespoons cold water
pre-cook crust a little over half way at 400 F (about 9 mins)
Filling:
4 eggs, 2 cups light cream or whole milk, 1/2 teaspoon salt, dash of nutmeg, black pepper, onion powder, and cayenne pepper,. Beat well. mix in 3/4 cup Swiss cheese and 1 cup cooked (drained) spinach.
Bake at 425 F for 10 mins, then at 350 F for 30 min (until you can stick a knife in the center and it comes out clean.

Mmmm Potatoes

Remember how I bought a bag of Russell potatoes? Well that bag saved me from having to eat beans and rice for lunch. Nothing against beans and rice, it just doesn't make my mouth water, even with great chipotle beans. My husband, who lived in Brazil, however, can eat beans and rice for lunch and dinner for a week straight with out disliking it. (Just so you know my limit is four days before I go crazy.)
Sadly, we did not have any big tortillas for bean burritos; which for some reason I can eat everyday with out getting tired of it. who knew a tortilla and re-frying the beans and adding cheese makes such a difference? Anyways, so no tortillas meant that it would be a bowl of beans and rice, which for some reason isn't made better for me by adding cheese. Until, I spotted the potatoes and had a great idea. Spicy Roasted potatoes! A Boyle family staple. Needless to say this revelation turned an otherwise blah lunch into the best mouth watering goodness ever.
All you do is heat the oven to 375 F. wash and cut the potatoes. then in a bowl coat the potatoes in olive oil, lots of salt, a little smoked paprika, chili powder, onion powder and garlic. then toss on a lightly greased cookie sheet (if you have liquid lecithin use that because it really helps things not stick)and bake for about 15 mins or until the potatoes are soft and crisp on the bottom. We do eat ours with ketchup. Like I said or I hope I said, this is generally healthier, but it really depends on what your definition of healthy is and where you are on the 'heath food' scale. I personally like being where I'm at.
Enjoy!

Potato leek soup

Okay so I bought a big bag of Yukon gold potato (my favorite) a week ago, and then I bought a 5lb bag of Russell potatoes. What can I do with so many potatoes and no gravy? Potato soup of course! Honestly, I think this is my favorite soup now, and that's saying a lot when it has my friend Gabby's Butternut pear soup for competition.
To make the soup:
Get a big soup pot and heat a tablespoon or more of olive oil in the pan, add a small chopped yellow onion and some celery if you have it (I didn't so I just used celery salt for half of my salt). while the onion is softening a bit get three cloves of garlic, chop off the very bottom, then crush and add to the pot. Now as fast as you can cube up about 7 of the gold potatoes (golds are pretty small so if you are using Russell instead only cut about 4-5) I leave the skins on, but that is just how I like things. put the potatoes in the pot and add a can of chicken broth, vegetable broth, or even just water if that's all you have. add to dry bay leaves (or one fresh if you have it), salt to taste (I use almost a tablespoon, but it depends on how salty the broth is). Let the Potatoes cook until they are supper soft (and probably have absorbent all the liquid). Put the bay leaves aside and either blend up what you have in a food possessor, or just mash it up with a masher if you don't like doing dishes like me. Put everything back in the pot over low heat and add the leek (washed and finely minced) a small dash of cayenne pepper, some black pepper, and celery salt if you didn't add celery to start with.
Let simmer for 10 mins and then enjoy. I had the leftovers today with some red wheat bread.

Vegetable stir-fry

So yesterday I needed to go the store, but I didn't want to. Lucky for me, a while back I bought a bag a frozen stir-fry vegetables at Costco. Yea for procrastination!
The stir fry mix has red peppers, mushrooms,Green beans, pea pods, broccoli, mini corn (yum!), and water chestnuts. This is great because everything except the broccoli and the green beans usually costs a lot otherwise. However, I think this would still taste good if you just used broccoli, green beans, and some other vegetable that was cost effective that day: The other stuff, however, does make it great. I also always have brown rice on hand. so I made some of that for the week.
for the stir-fry
heat some olive oil in a large skillet until the oil hot (sizzles when something is added). Add vegetables with a light coating of flour, soy sauce (about 2 tablespoons, but I used a bit more), fresh garlic and finely diced ginger (I ran out so I just used a healthy dash of the powdered stuff). I have Oyster sauce on hand too, so I added some of that for kicks, but you don't need it.
stir and fry it until the sauce turns brownish and the vegetables are cooked (like 5-10 minuets depending on the vegetables)
My rice still needed 10 more minuets to cook by this point so I just turned the heat off the skillet. Stirred it a bit at first so the bottom wouldn't burn from residual heat then covered it with a lid to keep warm until the rice was done. I think the covering helped because it steamed my vegetables a bit.
I served it over the rice and it was wonderful. You can make this with chicken or meat if you like, but I think it is great without and healthier.
Stir-fry is a wonderful basic to know how to make, and is a lot easier then I thought it would be. Plus as my friend Kellie taught me the main key to Asian food is just soy sauce, garlic and ginger.
Have a good meal!

New Year to Blogging

As the new year has come into my life. I've decided I need to do more to make my and the lives of those around me better. One way I know how to do this is through food. I have loved to cook all my life and I love being proud of what I make. I also have learned to love what I consider healthier food, but with my husband going through school, a one year old son, and me not bringing in any income our food budget is limited.
This has helped me to learn how to make simple, yummy, and healthy meals without breaking our budget. Sometimes, however, I need a little motivation.
It's for that reason and the desire I have to help anyone else like me that I've decided to blog about one meal per day.
I have leaned, though that everyone kind-of has there own out look on food and especially what a healthy diet is, So here is my food perspective.
A healthy diet to me means moderation in everything. I don't believe in saying no sugar or no fat. To me that is stupid. We need sugar and fat. How we get it and how much, however, does matter. With that in mind I do think that a diet high in grains, fruit and vegetables is heather then not.
Here are some guide lines I've set up:
Extra virgin olive oil, avocado and real butter are my fats of choice. That is what makes my body happy. They are more expensive then margin, corn oil and the horrible like, but they also don't leave you feeling like dung.
Also if you are going to have dessert, make it a dessert! I hate, hate, hate when someone makes an otherwise good tasting dessert disgusting because they wanted it to be 'healthier' If your going to eat something bad for you, at least have it taste good. The key is limiting how much you eat, not making what you eat gross.
Alright, that's all for now. I look forward to blogging!