Recipe Share: OMG Seriously Good!

I made this Mac and Cheese recipe today, and let me tell you, this is some seriously good stuff. I doubled the recipe, thinking eight ounces of macaroni wasn't very much, and not noticing the part about having to double three cups of milk into six, etc. At one point I found myself thinking I had seriously screwed up by making so much, but then I tasted it.

Bliss.

If I hadn't doubled the recipe, Dan and I would've ended up fighting over it.

This was my first time making macaroni and cheese from scratch and I was surprised at how easy it was, so don't be intimidated if your only experience is with boxed recipes. Make this for someone you love. Or better yet, make it for someone you hate. They'll end up loving you, and won't that be nice?

Sunday Recipe Share

In honor of our nice autumn weather (or as close as we can realistically expect on the Gulf Coast) I'm posting a link to this Butternut Squash Recipe. I've been making this for years and it's a personal favorite, either as a side dish or a light meal. Enjoy!

Weekend Recipe Wrap-up

Okay, I know I said I probably wouldn’t be trying any new recipes this weekend, but plans change and I gave this recipe for Quinoa-Spinach Bake a try.

It was quite easy and the results were delicious. I recommend washing the quinoa well and even soaking it in salt water for a few minutes to help remove the bitterness. Since ricotta tends to be a bit bland, don’t hesitate to spice this recipe up a bit with whatever suits your fancy. I just used salt and red pepper, but white pepper, extra garlic, or Indian spices would make a nice option, too.

The other new thing I tried this weekend was feta and ricotta in the rice balls recipe. I forgot that I was out of mozzarella when I was at the store, so I dumped in what cheese I had and all was well.

So here’s the day’s culinary count:

• Quinoa-Spinach Bake
  
• Rice Balls (with feta and ricotta)
  
• Steamed broccoli with lemon pepper
  
• Zucchini baked with cheddar and bread crumbs
  
• Granola bars. Again. They keep disappearing.
  

I’ll probably do some cookies or quick bread (carrot or banana) later in the week. Until then, happy eating!

Food for Thought

I cooked up a storm this weekend! From Friday afternoon to Sunday afternoon, I made the following:

Baking:

1 loaf banana bread

1 loaf honey-wheat bread

2 loaves carrot-apple bread

Just Regular Eats (food for the coming week):

couscous with feta and diced grape tomatoes

wilted spinach with garlic

curry zucchini and onions

black beans with garlic

brown rice

curry fried rice (I always do a rice dish with the previous week’s leftover rice)

I also dehydrated some spinach. Central Market has been selling locally-grown triple-washed spinach for several weeks now and it occurred to me that I’m going to really miss it when the season for it is over. So I broke out the dehydrator and now have lots of dry, crunchy spinach leaves sealed in a freezer bag and residing in my freezer for some summer day when I want cheap spinach. Because it’s dehydrated and crumbles easily in this state, it would also be good for any sort of pasta Florentine dish—no chopping required, just crumble before rehydrating.

I don’t know how many of you out there have been paying attention to the value of the dollar, the state of the American (and by extension, the world’s) banking system, and oil/gas prices, but it looks like we're in a situation that’s going to get worse before it gets better. And if you haven’t read up on what’s happening in the grain markets, the short answer is that prices of most grains, especially wheat, are also going up due to a number of factors including drought and wheat rust. Add in the higher cost of shipping now that diesel is at $4/gallon in a lot of places, and you’d have to be blind not to see where all this is trending for summer.

If you don’t know how to cook cheap, now is a great time to start. With a rice cooker and a crock pot, you can have tasty meals for pennies, with about 5-10 minutes of actual time spent working in the kitchen. (Yeah, food takes longer than that to cook, but you don’t have to actually be present.) For the same amount of time a lot of folks spend at the drive-through breathing exhaust fumes, one can cook a cheap, healthy meal at home!

I hope all the economic indicators are wrong or that a deus ex machina is about to swoop down and save us from the crazy confluence of problems driving the dollar down and the cost of everything up. But I’m not betting on it. Right now, $2.54 buys me a 5-pound bag of organic wheat flour. How many loaves of wheat bread can you buy for that price? If our economy doesn't get straightened out fast, how many do you think you'll be able to buy this summer?

Food for thought, indeed.

Recent Workouts
Monday: 35 minutes elliptical, 10 minute row
Tuesday: 6.5 mile run
Wednesday: 45 minute spin, abs and weights
Thursday: 35 minute elliptical, abs and weights
Friday: scheduled rest day
Saturday: 18 mile run
Sunday: 2 hour spin, weights and abs

Recipe Share: Carrot-Apple Bread

This is the recipe I modified last week from a zucchini bread recipe. Other than the time spent chopping carrots for the food processor, this takes very little time to make and will produce two yummy loaves. Freeze one for later or bake them in disposable foil pans and take one to work.

BTW, your house will smell heavenly while this is baking!

Enjoy!

CARROT-APPLE BREAD

INGREDIENTS

• 3 eggs
  
• 1 cup vegetable oil (may substitute applesauce for oil)
  
• 2 cups white sugar (or 4 packets stevia and 1 cup sugar)
  
• 2 cups grated carrots
  
• 1 cup diced dried apples
  
• 3 cups flour
  
• 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
  
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
  
• 1 teaspoon salt
  
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
  

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour two 8x4 inch loaf pans.
   
2. In a large bowl, beat eggs until light and frothy. Mix in oil (or applesauce) and sugar. Stir in carrots and apples. In separate bowl, combine flour, spices, soda, baking powder, salt and nuts; stir into the egg mixture. Divide batter into prepared pans.
   
3. Bake for 60 to 70 minutes, or until done.
   

Some notes on my ingredients. These are personal preferences and not required for this recipe to work:

• I use organic ingredients
  
• I substitute 1 cup organic applesauce for the 1 cup oil, but one could also do ½ cup oil and ½ cup applesauce
  
• I usually use 4 packets of stevia and one cup of brown sugar instead of all that white sugar. If you decide to reduce the sugar, you may want to add more of the spices.
  
• I use whole wheat flour, but white or a combination of white and wheat would also work
  
• When I have it, I use a little hazelnut or pecan flour in all my breads. These are very finely ground nuts that one can get in the bulk bins at an organic foods store.