Don't be hatin' the squash

 So here in Las Vegas we have a great place called Gilcrease Orchards. For being in the middle of the desert, it's an amazing place. In the summer I love to go and get tomatoes, onions, melon and squash. However, I think that I am the only one in my family who appreciates the beauty on taste of squash. Well, in an attempt to bring the rest of the crew to the light, I've done some experimenting. This is what I've discovered...

If you fill the center with pasta sauce, or French onion soup broth and cook it in a slow coker, it's so good. Full of flavor. And if you add a slice of cheese over the top and melt it before serving, it's even better.

 Then you can take the leftovers, place it in the blender and pour it into an ice tray. Freeze, then place in freezer bags and you've got a healthy addition to soups and stews, and the little Rebels never even know!

Peanut Butter Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

 I saw a Pin for what inspired these muffins. I didn't follow any links, but instead, just used my own favorite banana muffin recipe and added peanut butter...and the kids loved them.

Peanut Butter Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

1/2 cup olive oil (or butter)
1/2 cup sugar (or honey)
3 eggs
3 very ripe bananas
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
2 cups white whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

( I use a Bosch so everything goes in the same bowl) First, mix the oil, sugar and eggs. Add the bananas and peanut butter, mix. Next mix all the dry ingredients in together. Finally, mix in the chocolate chips. Bake at 400 degrees for about 12 minutes.

Enjoy!

A little note. I only had one banana when I made these, so I experimented and to keep the batter from being too dry, I added 1/4 cup of coconut milk and they turned out great! And I usually add a cup of raisins to these muffins, so next time, I'll do that as well.

Mango Sticky Rice

Google images

 

This recipe comes from my dear friend Melissa

STICKY RICE WITH MANGO

Yield: Serves 4

Time: 1 hour

Aromatic Jasmine Rice makes this classic Thai dessert easier to prepare and every bit as delicious.

INGREDIENTS

1 cup uncooked Jasmine Rice

1-13.5 oz. can Coconut Milk

2/3 cup sugar

½ teaspoon salt

2 ripe mangoes

DIRECTIONS

1. In a medium saucepan bring 1 ¾ cups of water to a boil. Add the rice and briefly stir. Reduce heat to low and cover. Simmer 20 minutes or until water is just absorbed.

2. Meanwhile in a small saucepan, combine coconut milk, sugar and salt. Boil for 3 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat.

3. Add the hot coconut milk sauce to the cooked rice. Stir until mixed.

4. Lightly press plastic wrap onto mixture in saucepan to cover. Let rest 30 minutes at room temperature.

5. Peel and slice the mangoes.

6. With large spoon or ice cream scoop, spoon the sticky rice onto plates and garnish with mango slices.

Irish Soda Bread

 Loving this stuff. I was determined to make a good soda bread, if for no other reason than to honor the Irish.

 I wanted it to be a little on the healthy side...

And it would be of little use to me if it wasn't tasty as well...

I think I've perfected it!

  

Orange Cranberry Soda Bread

2 cups white flour

2 cups wheat flour

3 tablespoons sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons Redmond's Real salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

4 tablespoons cold butter, cut into small pieces

1 1/4 cups buttermilk

2 tablespoons fresh squeezed orange juice

1 egg

1 cup dried cranberries

zest from one orange

In a large bowl, mix all the dry ingredients with a whisk. Cut in butter (I just pounded it with the whisk to make sure it was in small pieces). In a large liquid measuring cup mix the buttermilk, orange juice, egg and zest. Add the liquid to the dry ingredients and start to mix. then add the dried cranberries and finish mixing, just until combined. Knead dough on a floured surface briefly. Form into a ball, flatten slightly, mark it with an X and bake on a cookie sheet at 375 degrees for about 25 minutes.. Cool on a rack, or eat it hot with butter!

 

Peaches and Cream

Peaches are simply wonderful

Fresh from the orchard, sweet, juicy and ripe.

When we lived in Cedar City, I could get raw milk, which meant that I would have raw cream. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find that here in Vegas, so I have to make some compromises. So for this tasty dish I used coconut milk

It's almost as good as the real thing. It's especially grand if you're trying to avoid dairy.

To make this delish dish, you'll want

Peaches and Cream

1 peach, peeled, pitted and diced
1/3 cup coconut milk
just a sprinkle of nutmeg and cinnamon

Combine together in a lovely dish and enjoy your bites with a dainty silver spoon

Good to the last drop!

aSaraDeeOriginal Sweet & Salted Bananas

This is AMAZING!!!

I've always liked peanut butter and honey, especially on toast. I've also greatly enjoyed peanut butter and bananas. So in my attempt to eat a great portion of my diet using raw foods in their most natural state, I combined the two and made peanut butter with bananas drizzled with honey...

 The dish was delightful. But then I had a stroke of inspiration!! What this delish dish needed was a contrast with the sweet. Just add SALT! Who would have thought?

Sweet and Salted Bananas

1 whole banana, perfectly ripe, sliced into circles
2 teaspoons of good peanut butter
1 teaspoon of raw honey
Real Salt

 Slice bananas onto a pretty little plate. Grind a little bit of salt over them. Drizzle the bananas with the honey and place the peanut butter to the side of the bananas. Allow the dish to 'rest' for about 10 minutes before enjoying!

 Tell me what you think!

aSaraDeeOriginal Super Simple Soup

 So the picture didn't turn out as appetizing as I would have liked it to, which means you'll just have to take my word on how good it tastes!

Truth be told, I ate more than half when I remembered to take a picture and, as we have already established, I need a better camera and perhaps some photography lessons, but I digress. If I hadn't 'mixed' my bowl yet, it would have looked much nicer...

To make this Super Simple Soup, you'll need

1 freshly picked, homegrown tomato, diced
1/2 of a perfectly ripe avocado, diced
2/3 cup organic creamy butternut squash (or tomato) soup
Cilantro
Real Salt

 Place the tomato and the soup in a saucepan and heat. Place the avocado and cilantro in the dish of your choice. Pour hot soup over avocado and cilantro and top with desired amount of salt. Perfection!

 There are many options with this meal. You could add cheese, homemade croutons, tortilla strips, some grilled sourdough bread. Use your imagination.

"You know what I really want?"

 I have wonderful children! Each one of them is incredible. My son, who is the youngest is absolutely a joy.

 So we were coming home from a fishing trip with some cousins and we've dropped them off, it's getting later in the evening, we've been driving all day and we decide to stop at Pepe's Tacos for, what will prove to be, a very late dinner.

 I turn around to face my son in the back of the truck and say to him, "What would you like to get from Pepe's? A quesadilla? Maybe a bowl of refried beans and cheese? Or maybe you'd like a burrito?" After a moments reflection, he says to me in his "I'm getting sleepy" voice, "You know what I really want? An Egg on toast." It sent a smile to every face in the vehicle!

 Well needless to say, we did stop at Pepe's because we didn't get into town until 11pm. Abraham was asleep by that time. So we carried him into the restaurant, thinking that he might wake up... we were wrong.

He slept through the whole meal. Loud Mexican music and all. We loaded him back into the car, went home and went to bed, Abraham never waking up.

 The first thing he asked for the next morning upon arising was...an egg on toast. Of course, his wish was granted, and he enjoyed every bite.

 To make the best Over Easy Eggs, before you flip it, sprinkle it with some Lawry's Seasoned Salt. Then place the egg salted side UP on your toast. Trust me.

aSaraDeeOriginal Potato Salad recipe

I made this potato salad for my family to take fishing last week...maybe you'd like to make it too! (Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of it before it was gone).

I really didn't measure anything too closely, so just add more or less to your taste.

2 lbs potatoes, washed, diced and boiled in salted water
1 cup sour cream
1 cup pesto hummus
1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes in oil, chopped
1 small can diced black olives
LOTS of dill relish
3 hard boiled eggs, chopped well
salt and pepper

Mix everything together and chill before serving. Sprinkle with paprika before serving.

I'm going to try my hand at making my own yogurt, so I thought the next time I make this, I'll use plain yogurt in place of the sour cream and I might also add some green onions. Maybe.

aSaraDeeOrigianl Cherry Jam

So this week I have been canning some wonderful jams...while juice fasting and all. That's the craziest thing about this past month. I've done more cooking while I haven't been able to eat than in the last 3 months while I could eat!

Cherry Pineapple Jam

Cherry Mango Jam

Cherry Lemonade Jam

I think that everyone agrees that the Cherry Lemonade is the best. So I'll share the SaraDeeOriginal recipes. I struggle with how much sugar that is called for in a regular jam recipe and I have no idea that is really in pectin and therefore not too sure I want to put it in my body. So I made up my own!

Cherry Lemonade Jam

5 cups cherries, stems removed, pitted and chopped
Juice of 3 lemons
Zest of 1 lemon
2 cups unbleached sugar

In a large pot, combine the cherries, lemon juice and zest. Bring to a boil. Add the sugar and boil for 13-15 minutes. Ladle jam into jars. Apply lids and turn upside down for about 10 minutes. Turn right side up and allow jars to cool before moving. If you've never made jam before, it's so easy and Ball has a great book to get you started.

You can follow the above recipe to make Cherry Pineapple and the Cherry Mango with these alterations...

Cherry Pineapple Jam

5 cups cherries, stems removed, pitted and chopped
1 pineapple, outer removed, cored and chopped
Juice of 1 lemon
2 cups unbleached sugar


Cherry Mango Jam

5 cups cherries, stems removed, pitted and chopped
2 mangos, peeled, pitted and chopped
Juice of 1 lemon
2 cups unbleached sugar

aSaraDeeOriginal Naanajo Tacos!

Who LOVES Navajo tacos? Me me me!

Who loves deep frying the Indian fry bread and getting grease splattered all over the kitchen just to make Navajo tacos?  
Not me.

So, who then, waits all year until they can go the the Panguitch Hot Air Balloon Festival to get a Navajo taco? Yours truly....until today!

I'll confess it, I don't love cooking. I should. I enjoy eating what I make, I just don't love spending hours in the kitchen preparing a meal that takes 10 minutes to consume and then needing to spend another hour to clean it all up!

 So I'm walking out of the wonderful little market we have here, Fresh and Easy, and this idea hits me like a thunder bolt. I could use Naan bread to make Navajo tacos! Brilliant!! Unfortunately I was walking OUT, not in...so I mulled the idea over in my mind and it sounded better and better. I went back to the store to gather the toppings and behold...

The Naanajo Taco! 

All you need is 

 Naan Bread, warmed

 Beans, of your choice, warmed

 Cheese, shredded

 Tomatoes, diced

 Lettuce

 Salsa
 Avocados

 Sour cream

 Layer and enjoy. The beautiful thing about this meal is that not only is it filling, it's vegetarian, too! 

Ode to the Pomegranate

 Actually I have no idea how to write and ode. Hold on, I'll google it...

Ode (from the Ancient Greek ὠδή) is a type of lyrical verse. A classic ode is structured in three major parts: the strophe, the antistrophy, and the epode. Different forms such as the homostrophic ode and the irregular ode also exist. It is an elaborately structured poem praising or glorifying an event or individual, describing nature intellectually as well as emotionally.

 Uh, that really didn't help me. 

But I have this need to pay tribute to the pomegranate. I love them. Everything about them. The wonderful crispness for each beautiful garnet jewel. That tart sweetness of the juice. The way they burst open after a light frost, or, when you're too young to cut them open with a knife, the way they explode after you've thrown them into the street. I love sitting in the sun on a chilly November morning and eating one for breakfast. For me, Autumn really begins with the pomegranate!

They're also wonderful in your homemade cranberry sauce for your Thanksgiving dinner!

Grapefruit Pomegranate Cranberry Sauce
1 12oz bag cranberries, rinsed
1 cup sugar
1 grapefruit, cut in half and sectioned then juice what's left and save the juice
1 pomegranate

 

In a large saucepot combine cranberries, sugar and grapefruit juice and bring to a boil and lightly boil for 8 minutes. Add grapefruit and finish cooking 2 minutes more. turn off heat and add pomegranates. At this point, you can process it in jars like you would jelly, or just put it in an air tight glass container and store it in the fridge. It's AMAZING! So worth it...just try it.