Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Crunchy Spinach Casserole

This is what I'm making for our Thanksgiving dressing.  I have made it several years and LOVE it.  EM just discovered that he liked it last Thanksgiving, darn.  I have tried to modify the recipe to make it more healthy, but you cannot omit the butter (I tried).  I'll put my modifications below.  You know that spinach dip you eat at parties when you'd like to drop your chips and just dig your spoon in and stuff it in your mouth?  Or lay down and roll in it?  That's what this tastes like.

(For my family, I love Grandmother's dressing and can make it, but no one here is interested.  I'll just have to wait for a big family gathering for my next GM dressing.)

Crunchy Spinach Casserole
from A Taste of Georgia

Oven:  325 degrees for 20-30 minutes                      Yield:  8 servings

30 oz. frozen chopped spinach                              
8 oz. + 3 oz. package cream cheese (use separately, I use reduced fat)
1/2 + 1/2 stick butter (do not omit)
juice of 2 lemons
salt (I omit)
black  pepper
ground nutmeg
1/2 cup dairy sour cream (I use reduced fat)
1 1/2 cups dry herb stuffing mix

     Cook the spinach according to package directions.  I use the microwave.  Drain very thoroughly.
     Combine in a saucepan the 8 oz. package of cream cheese, 1/2 stick of butter, all but 1 teaspoon of the lemon juice, salt, black pepper, lots of ground nutmeg, and drained spinach (or do like me and do it in the microwave).   Stir until smooth and divide in half, set aside.
     In a separate bowl, combine the 3 oz. of cream cheese, 1/2 cup sour cream, 1 teaspoon lemon juice, and white pepper.  Stir until smooth.
     Place half of the spinach mixture in a well-buttered 2 quart casserole.  Top with all the cream cheese mixture.  Add the second half of the spinach mixture.
     Sprinkle the stuffing mix over the top and drizzle over the stuffing the remaining 1/2 stick of melted butter (you must do this!)
     Bake casserole at 325 degrees for 20-30 minutes or until bubbly and brown on top.

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Amazing Two-Ingredient Cupcakes

I found this on the Internet.  Mix, with a mixer, one box of cake mix with one can of pumpkin puree.  That's all!  Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.  The batter will be thicker than typical cake batter.  You can prepare it like drop cookies or spoon it into a muffin pan.  I tried it both ways and the muffin-style were very velvety.  Spice cake mix was recommended, but I used chocolate.  I have a chocolate chip pumpkin cookie recipe that we like, so I knew it would be good.  The chocolate-pumpkin cupcakes turned out red, like red velvet cake.  Yum!

P.S. I've learned this is a Weight Watchers' recipe.  Also, don't try in in a cake pan or bundt pan.  It does not cook evenly.  The smaller portions sizes of a cookie or cupcake must work better.

Monday, November 7, 2011

Wonderful Weekend!

 Let me tell you, that amazing woman who DID NOT HAVE A JOB this summer, has disappeared.  I love being off in the summers and pretending I’m retired.  The house stays clean, especially more so as AT gets older.  I cook.   I create.  I read.  I blog.  I smile when I go to bed because I don’t have to get up in the morning.

That woman has disappeared.

I am ashamed to tell you how often I do not cook.  My house is undone.  I stare at projects.  I let the frig get empty.  I smile on Saturdays and don’t do as much as I should.  At this time of year, if I cook and clean the kitchen, I consider myself gifted!

Now, to change the subject, weeks ago, I had an amazing weekend with my mom and two sisters.  (My mom is my editor and has corrected some of my writing with rules that I did not know.  If you see typos, they are MINE, not hers).  It was a significant birthday for my youngest sister.  My middle sister came up with this plan.  We met in Little Rock and stayed at a bed and breakfast.  So. Much. Fun!  We ate, shopped, and talked and talked.  We saw the Designing Women house, the Governor’s Mansion, and many other grand homes.  Our B & B
(http://www.rosemontoflittlerock.com/) was in the Designing Women house neighborhood.   This was the first time that AT had declined to go on a big trip with me.  Sniff, sniff!  But I adjusted and enjoyed my five-hour solitary drive to Little Rock. 

At one point, when all the ladies were in the same car for the first time, I clapped my hands in joy.  My sister said, “That’s just what Mother did when we left home.”  The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree!  A later fun moment was when my mom said the trip made her feel so young.  On Saturday afternoon while we were at the River Market, one sister said, “Maybe we should go back and rest.  Maybe Mother would if we did.”  So I said, “I think I could go take a nap.”  Mother burst forth, “You can take a nap when you get back home!”  So much for slowing down for her!

Unexpectedly, Saturday revealed itself to be a theme day.  We went to the Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site.  Go to  http://www.nps.gov/chsc/index.htm for more information.  Then, that night, we all saw the movie The Help for the first time.  I was awed by the day, by the heroes at Central High School and by the heroes portrayed in the movie.   So many heroes have passed before me.  I have never been called to that level of service.  I wondered all day how I would measure up under those circumstances.  Since we pass through Little Rock several times a year, I plan for EM and AT to see the site also.  Although you can spend longer, it is possible to get a good sample of what the historic site offers in an hour or so.

Saturday, November 5, 2011

Lucky Bean Soup


Now I am blogging, instead of cooking beans or straightening the house.  This is my favorite bean soup recipe.  Maybe I’ll get up and start some beans next.  I received this recipe at my wedding shower from Rachel and have used it many times.  Now that I look at it, there is no list of ingredients.  I know Rachel included a list.  She gave me a pint jar of mixed dried beans with the recipe attached.  So without the list of ingredients, we'll have to make do.  You just measure out a pint jar or several handfuls of mixed beans, like I do.  It will work, I promise you.

Lucky Bean Soup

Wash beans and cover with water.  Add 1 Tbs. salt and soak at least 3 hours.  Put the beans in 2 quarts of water and let boil slowly in soup pot two to three hours.

Add precooked sausage sliced or ham pieces and 1 large onion and cook two to three hours more.

(Now this is what makes it special! – do not omit, you Jerry-riggers!)  Add 1-can tomatoes, 2 Tbs. lemon juice and 1 Tbs. Worchester sauce.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Serve over rice or cornbread.

Sun-Dried Tomato Breakfast Casserole

Here is the Egg and Sun-Dried Tomato Breakfast Casserole that I brought to school recently.  I’ve had some requests for the recipe.  I love sun-dried tomatoes and knew there would be a breakfast casserole recipe on the Internet.  I just Goggled  “sun-dried tomato breakfast casserole” and this popped up.  Magic!  I also did a little Jerry-rigging and I’ll include that also.  I doubled the recipe to take to school.  I think a single recipe would have worked because I brought some home.  You can find this recipe yourself at youvegotsupper.com. 

Notes:  Walmart does not always stock sun-dried tomatoes.  This time I bought, and substituted, sun-dried tomato spread.  I thought it worked fine.  I substituted ¾ cup of milk + ¼ cup of butter for the whipping cream which I didn’t get home from the store.  Now I see on the Internet, that I could have substituted more Half N Half.  I thought the recipe was too rich with the butter.  Next time, I would try putting a layer of frozen hashed brown potatoes under the custard-like casserole.

Ingredients
1 lb. sausage
¼ c. shallots, chopped (I substituted onions)
2 gloves garlic, minced (I used powdered garlic)
½ c. sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
4 tbsp. parsley (fresh), chopped (I omitted)
5 large eggs
3 large egg yolks (I just used 6 eggs for the whole recipe)
1 c. half n half (I used fat-free)
1 c. whipping cream
2 cups mozzarella cheese, grated
½ tsp. salt

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Butter 13X9X2 inch baking dish.  Sauté sausage over medium heat until brown and cooked through, breaking into small pieces.  (I did this step in the microwave). 

2.  Add shallots and garlic.  Sauté until softened. 

3.  Add sun-dried tomatoes and 2 T. parsley.  Stir 1 minute.  Spread sausage mixture in prepared dish.  You can make this one-day ahead.  (I did it the night before and assembled that morning.)

4.  Whisk eggs, egg yolks, Half N Half, whipping cream, 1 ½ cups cheese, and salt in a large bowl.  Pour egg mixture over sausage mixture in prepared dish.  Sprinkle with remaining ½ c. cheese and 2 T. parsley.

5.  Bake until top of casserole is golden brown and knife inserted the center comes out clean, about 30 minutes.  Let stand 5 minutes before service. 


Monday, August 29, 2011

Shrimp Tostadas, Another Dump Recipe

This dump recipe got a “This is fun!” rating from my husband!  I’ll be making it again.  Maybe I need to change the name “dump recipe” to “Jerry-rigged recipe”, but that would be disparaging to all the Jerrys in the world, wouldn’t it?  Today I’m going to give you two recipes.  One recipe is my inspiration and the second recipe is my successful, Jerry-rigged recipe (translation: the recipe made with what I had in my cabinets and frig).  The real recipe is from Eat What You Love and Lose from Family Circle magazine.  This is a recipe book that I stole from my mom on my last trip home.  I love recipe books and have finally realized that with each recipe book is the irrational belief that the new book comes with a chef.  It’s not really true, but I fall for the idea with every new book.  So here we go with the real recipe.

The Real Recipe
Corn-Shrimp Tostadas

12 (6 inch) corn tortillas
Nonstick cooking spray
¾ teaspoon salt
1 can corn kernels, drained and rinsed
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
¾ pound cooked, shelled shrimp, chopped
2 small jalapeno chiles, cored, seeded and chopped
½ small red onion, finely chopped
1 teaspoon grated lime rind
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon chopped freish cilantro
1 teaspoon sugar
½ cup reduced-fat mayonnaise dressing
1 tablwespoon water
1/8 teaspoon liquid hot-pepper sauce

1.  Heat oven to 425 degrees.  Place tortillas in single layer on 2 baking sheets.  Coat with cooking spray.  Flip tortillas over, coat with spray.

2.  Bake to 13 to 15 minutes or until lightly browned, flipping tortillas over once.  Transfer to wire rack.  Sprinkle each with pinch of salt, ¼ teaspoon total.  Let cook completely.

3.  Mix corn kernels, beans, chopped shrimp, jalapeno, and onion in large bowl.

4.  Whisk together lime rind, juice, cilantro, sugar, remaining ½ teaspoon salt, mayonnaise, water and pepper sauce in small bowl.  Spoon over corn mixture; stir gently to combine.

5.  Divide corn mixture among baked tortillas, about 1/3 cup each.  Serve immediately.

Whew!  I don’t know what you think about it, but I think that is a long list of items.  I do sometimes make recipes with such a list, but after a long day at work, that does not always interest me.  I did not have a lime, or corn.  While I love onions, I have some onion-haters in my house.  I know.  Sad.  I did have a can of black beans, but I also had black bean and corn salsa.  I had the corn tortillas.  We had never had tostadas before.  Eureka!  

So here’s my version of the above recipe.  To give credit where credit is due, I would not have created my recipe without reading that recipe. 

My Dump Recipe
Salsa Shrimp Tostadas

shredded cheese, probably about 1 cup
12 corn tortillas (I probably had 9)
1 cup cooked, shelled shrimp, chopped
¾ cup of your favorite salsa

1.  Heat oven to 425 degrees.  Place tortillas in single layer on 2 baking sheets.  Coat with cooking spray.  Flip tortillas over, coat with spray.

2.  Bake 6 minutes.  Remove from oven, flip, and lightly sprinkle with shredded cheese.   Bake another 7 minutes or until lightly browned.  Transfer to wire rack. Let cool completely.

3.  Mix salsa and chopped shrimp.

4.  Let people load up their own tortillas at the table. 

How I lowered the sodium level:
1.  Corn tortillas are very low in sodium.
2.  I added no salt to the recipe.
3.  Swiss cheese can be used rather than cheddar.
4.  Fruit-based salsa will be lower in salsa than an all vegetable-salsa.  

Now, I agree, this was a flash of brilliance, but what’s for supper tomorrow?




Saturday, August 20, 2011

My World, In Which I am a Rock Star

This week was the week of starting speech therapy at school, a week of scheduling, calling parents, attending meetings, organizing, meeting new students and saying, "Where did I put that?  It was right here on my desk a minute ago!" Crazy.  However, you know that I like my job and one of the most best parts of my job is that I am famous, at least at school and especially among the younger students.  Even older students are amazed when they see me at the grocery store, in public, outside of a school, apparently unsupervised.

Often, when I enter a PreK or Kindergarten classroom, my regular students are excited to see me.  I’m peppered with questions like, “Do you have me today?” or more often, "You have me today?"  Students, who are not in speech therapy, beg, “Can you see me? Can you see me?”  Of course, my regular students have some kind of speech and language delay and I have no way to explain the difference to the other students, who do not have delays.  I usually just say to them, “Not today!”

So this week, I worked with 3 little ones in their class for the first time this year, all who had been in speech therapy with me last year.  In different ways, they were all excited.  One laughed and laughed, giddy with the reunion.  Another said, “I played this in your room.”  The third was happy when I praised his efforts.  It was a fun session.  I can only hope they will be this pleased with me throughout the whole school year.  (I promise you, there will be a day when the honeymoon/reunion is over). They followed my every direction, completed every task.   I felt like a rock star!  Famous!  And it’s often like this.  I love my job. 

Screech…halt!   Uh oh.  Now I’m remembering the day before with the tiny little one who cried the whole session we were together.  This is very unusual.  Children don’t often cry with me.  After all, the whole session is like a play session, with wonderful toys, new to the child.   Usually, between ignoring crying behavior and my own personal charm, I can engage the most frustrated child and make him or her forget he wants to go see his mama.  Not this time.  Apparently, I had no charm, but this time I was still a rock star.  Alice Cooper…in the middle of a concert…on Halloween night...in front of a four year old.  Not a fun place to be.

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Chinese Cabbage Salad


Another dump recipe.  You don't see me posting homemade bread on here, do you?   I call it a dump recipe because I use the bag of pre-chopped cabbage.  Recently, much to my chagrin, there was no bagged cabbage at the store and I surely wasn’t going to stop at another store on a100+ degree-day.  So I chopped a head of cabbage in my food processor.  My life is so hard!

Anyway, here is my dump Chinese Cabbage Salad recipe.  I had the recipe for a long time before I made it, because I just couldn’t imagine putting uncooked Ramien noodles in it, but, boy, was I wrong!  It’s great.  The crunchy noodles work like crunchy croutons.  If you want to make it ahead of time, keep the cabbage/sauce mixture and the noodle mixture separate until just before serving. 

Chinese Cabbage Salad

Mix:  1 bag chopped cabbage
         1 bunch green onions, chopped

Combine and brown:              1 T. canola oil (use more if needed)
                                                1 oz. sesame seeds
                                                2 pkgs. Ramen noodles with seasoning packets

For sauce, combine and cook 1 minute:                         ½ cup sugar
                                                                                    ¼ c. vinegar
                                                                                    ¾ c. canola oil (may use less)
                                                                                    1 Tablespoon soy sauce

Let the noodles and sauce cool.  Mix the cabbage, sauce and noodles, 20 minutes before serving.

Tip for the sesame seeds:  If you buy them in the spice section at a regular grocery store, they are much more expensive than if you buy them in bulk at a health food or specialty store.  I don’t know why.

Excuse me, I have some of this stuff to eat right now in my frig!  Buh-Bye!

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

I'm a Maven (Kinda)


I’m a fan of the book The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell.    It was an interesting and hopeful book about how our culture can change on a dime.  A tipping point is defined as “the moment of critical mass, the threshold, the boiling point”.   Gladwell points out that it doesn’t always take a mass of people to make important changes in society.  Sometimes just a few key people start an epidemic and turn history on its ear.  He calls this the Law of the Few.  He follows up with examples.  One example is Paul Revere, who, with his midnight ride, changed a revolution.   The people listened to Revere, instead of just thinking he was crazy, because he already had a relationship with those people.  He was a connector, a person with the rare gift of connecting with people.  Another type of key person is a salesman.   Salesmen are a people who can convince you to agree with their concept or cause. 
A third type of person is a maven.  A maven is a person who likes to collect information and wants to share it with others.  A maven is the person you think of to call with that puzzling question.  There is a difference in a maven and a salesman.  A maven is not necessarily interested in convincing you to believe the information, as is a saleman.  The maven has the information, loves the information, and loves to share the information.  A salesman is expert in convincing other people to agree. 
I’m a maven or a wanna-be maven. While Gladwell gives mavens credit for being great experts, I will not put myself in that category, but I do love my information.  And I can’t help myself; I have to share it.  I get brief glimpses that some people are not as interested in my information as I am.  Ha!  But they have still listened to me.  My apologies and thanks to them.   Some people love to listen to my information.  But it doesn’t matter to me either way.  I love to collect and share my information no matter what the reaction.  I love to share info about books, recipes, experiences, restaurants.  Information is fun.  Information sharing makes me feel joyful.
Why does the book The Tipping Point give me hope?  History is full of examples where critical people in critical places make change happen.  Systems can change and they can change because of the input of these key people.  Schools can change, governments can change, and organizations can change.  In spite of the pessimism of our culture (or is it the pessimism of our media) these days, I have hope.   I have no expectation that I will impact change in a huge system.  However, maybe I can be an expert at my job, at my church and with my friends and encourage change in a positive direction.   Maybe I can be a little voice who says, “It’s possible that we could…” If you’re a salesman or a connector and think I have some good information, help me.  If you think I’m wrong, feel free to ignore. 

Friday, August 5, 2011

You Cannot Dial-A-Child

 One thing I’ve learned, in watching AT grow up, is that you cannot Dial-A-Child.  This was brought to the forefront this week when we went to a museum.   When I was a child, we always hit the museums, given the opportunity, and my dad liked taking the role of a teacher, saying, “What do you think that is?”  Often, I knew the information and I also knew that he was pleased when I had the answer.  He probably doesn’t even realize it to this day how much I saw him as a teacher when I was a child.  Now as an adult, I enjoy the role of being a teacher and I give him credit for my being a teacher now.

So, with my own child, I harbored fantasies that I would be teaching facts, that she would be a voracious reader (as am I), that we would share information, that we would share books to read.   When she was little, I promise I read to her constantly.  I imagined that when she was a preteen, I would read wonderful young adult books and pass them on to her.  We would go to the museum and she would be amazed and interested in the information I found.  I, in turn, would be amazed at her prior knowledge. 

Ha!  I repeat….Ha!

That’s not the child of my household, and, at the museum this week, I had a twinge.  Where was this mini-me that I had dreamt of?   Why was she dancing and prancing, instead of looking at the excellent exhibits?  Instead, I have a child who is intense, imaginative, and determined to manage her own ship. She loves her family and friends intensely.   She wants to read for information, not pleasure.  She wants to write her own books, not read the books of others.  She wants to draw, to create.  I’ve learned her creative soul does not want the 5 steps to a project, starting at step one (which is the way my mind works).  Her creative soul wants to create and ask for help only when there is a problem.  She may check in with me for the first time at step four.  Her conversations are peppered with “What would you do if….?” and I’m not even going to fill in that blank because her questions are so far out there and crazy and funny.   When she was younger, her imagination would get her in trouble, because she would ask herself “what-if” questions until she stirred herself up into a frenzy of worry.  We would even say, “No more ‘what-if’ questions.”  She’s matured out of that, thank goodness.

She is socially adept, not shy, like I was as a preteen and teen.  She didn’t want to be out of school this summer because of all the new friends she made at her new school last year. I watched her as a three-year-old, initiate conversation with the leader of the band. As an 11-year-old, she appropriately inserted herself into the conversation with the dad of a child star, so well so that the dad later came to retrieve her to meet the star.   

She is determined to be the master of her own ship.  She knows what she wants, what she approves of, and where she wants to go.  She has firm boundaries around her.  And, in the end, she will be the master of her own ship, as all our children are, and I’ll be left on the shore, holding my breath, whispering “Diligence, diligence!” and waving goodbye.  I did not have the opportunity to Dial-A-Child, but I think God knew what he was doing.  

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

32 Years of Speech-Language Pathology

Next week, I’ll start back to school, working as a speech-language pathologist in an elementary school.  I have been in this field for 32 years now.  I am so blessed to have a job that I love so much.  When I was in my second year of college, I had never met a speech-language pathologist (SLP).  I was running out of classes and electives to take without  declaring my major and I was loosing steam.  Why was I in college if I didn’t even know what I wanted to do?  Then, one day, it clicked.  I don’t know why.  There was no SLP major at the college I was attending.  I remember a photograph of a child in speech therapy and I had a friend who was majoring in deaf education, but I remember no other connections to the SLP world. 

Once I decided, though, I was sure.  I would have to transfer to a college out of state, but it still close to my home.  The plant where my dad worked was in the process of shutting down.  My dad was very serious about never promising anything if he couldn’t follow though.  One day, he would say he thought I might be able to go; then next, he would say that he wasn’t sure.  He found work successfully and I was able to transfer.

My first semester at my new school, I started my SLP classes and loved them.   I could not wait to finish and use my new skills.  A few years ago, when I was at a workshop and walking across a college campus, I had a flashback to all those steps I walked across my old campus and all those hours I worked.  I thought that I really did give it my best during those years.  It was a good feeling.  And 32 years later, the field still fits my personality.  There have been moments when I was frustrated with a job site, but I have never wanted to leave the field.  Being an SLP, requires problem solving, organization, behavior-management, and continual learning.   It demands that you give to others.  I have worked in hospitals, nursing homes, and in private practice.  I have taught at the university level.  For the past 11 years, I have been in the public schools (working only 9 months a year is great fun also).   I work with a wonderful administration now and have a certain amount of autonomy.  Our school is very inclusive, i.e., students with special needs are in the regular classroom as much as possible, and watching the students’ progress is amazing.  Since I’ve been at one school for so long, I’ve started evaluating the nieces and nephews of former students.  I’m seeing the next generation!

Some people my age are thinking about retirement.  There are moments that it sounds like a good idea.  But I can easily imagine myself working for many more years.   Over the years, when I’ve heard of an SLP retiring, or changing careers, I’ve always wondered why.  What a lucky SLP I am!

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Mexican Fiesta Dinner

This is not to be confused with my previous post.  It is just a coincidence that the word “fiesta” is in each recipe.  The previous recipe is expensive and, these days, expensive is not usually what you need.   It also takes much preparation time on the stove, which equals heat in the kitchen.   This recipe is great for hot days, because the only heat is from the microwave chili recipe I will include at the end.  Even though it is made in the microwave, it is one of the best I have tasted.  It is great for a potluck at your house where you make the chili and your guests each bring an item on the list following.  You’ll understand by the end of the post.  Just bear with me….

Oh, and yes, we really do not eat much meat at home.  I save it for company!  Does that make us flexitarians?  That really is a term being used these days – people who eat mostly vegetarian, but will eat meat on occasion.  If you are vegetarian, you can easily change to a veggie chili.

OK, here’s the Mexican Fiesta Dinner.  If you decide to do it potluck, people each bring one or two items on the list below.  Here’s a tip – don’t assign a critical item to a person who is always late!  I did that once.
 
Arrange this meal buffet style and let people pile up their plates as they wish.

Lay out food in this order on the buffet:

Fritos or Doritos chips
Rice
Chili
Grated cheese
Lettuce
Chopped tomatoes
Chopped onions
Green olives
Black olives
Pecans
Shredded coconut
Salsa
Sour cream

Microwave Chili

1 lb. very lean ground beef
1 chopped onion
1 chopped green pepper
1 or 2 cans kidney beans
1 14 oz. can tomatoes
1 6 oz. can tomato paste
Crushed garlic clove or powder
1 t. salt (I omit)
½ teaspoon cumin


2 tablespoons chili powder

Put all ingredients in one microwave-safe bowl and microwave for 5 minutes.  Stir.  Microwave for 10 minutes.  Stir.  Microwave for 10 minutes and it’s done!

Saturday, July 30, 2011

All-In-One Fiesta Stew Pot


This is not a good recipe for a 100 degree-plus day, but it is an awesome recipe and worth the time needed to make it.  So save it for a snowy winter’s day.  And thanks for Marge Walter, Santa Claus, Indiana for submitting the recipe to some magazine and now I’m about to type my little fingers off getting all the ingredients in this recipe posted.  I do not alter or do short-cuts on this recipe.  It’s too good.  I have doubled it, but expect the cooking times to take longer.  My sister found this recipe and it is always the stew recipe I  make for company.  There are some unusual flavor combinations that work.  I think you’ll be able to see where I got my idea for yesterday's Black Bean and Sweet Potato Quesadillas.

All-In-One Fiesta Stew Pot

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon chili powder
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 ½ lbs. lean beef chuck, cut into 1-inch cubes
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup defatted beef broth
½ cup apple juice
6 small white potatoes, peeled and quartered
2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 medium green bell pepper, cored, seeded and cut into 2-inch strips
1 medium red bell pepper, cored, seeded, and cut into 2-inch strips
1 medium onion, peeled and slivered
1 can (10 oz.) tomatoes with green chilies
1 can (8 oz.) tomato sauce
2 tablespoons honey
2 Granny Smith apples, cored and cut into 1 inch cubes
1 can (15 oz) dark red kidney beans, drained
2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley
Shredded cheddar cheese, for garnish
Coarsely chopped black olives, for garnish

            1.  Combine the flour, cumin, chili powder, garlic powder and cinnamon in a large bowl.  Add the beef cubes and toss with a fork to coat.
            2.  Heat the oil in a large, heavy pot over medium-high heat.  Brown the beef, in batches, on all sides.  Return the beef to the pot.  Add the beef broth and apple juice.  Cover and simmer over medium heat until the meat is tender, about 1 hour.
            3.  Add the potatoes, bell peppers, onion, tomatoes with green chilies, tomato sauce and honey.  Cover the simmer until the potatoes are tender, about 30 to 35 minutes.
            4.  Add the apples and kidney beans.  Cover and simmer until the apples are tender, about 15 minutes.  Stir in the chopped parsley.  Serve in shallow bowls, garnished with the shredded cheese and chopped olives.

Call me when you make it!


Friday, July 29, 2011

Black Bean and Sweet Potato Quesadillas

This is what I think of an a “dump” recipe, my favorite kind.  You just dump the ingredients in a bowl, with no or very little measuring.   This quesadilla filling is a favorite with EM and me and there are several ways to vary it.   In this blog, I will always give credit when I know where the credit is due.  I used a stew recipe for inspiration when I made up this recipe, but have since seen a similar recipe posted on foodie blogs.   Isn’t it wonderful that recipes can’t be copyrighted?  Tomorrow, I'll post the stew recipe.  I had never had that combination of stew flavors and liked it.   The ingredients for the quesadilla filling are also things that you can keep on hand for a while. These things are basics for me. I hate having to make that extra run to the store.

(My apologies here for the lack of photos.  I haven’t learned how to load them yet at Blogspot AND I have lost my camera somewhere in this house!  Hope to have photographs someday!)

Black Bean and Sweet Potato Quesadillas

Microwave or bake 2 sweet potatoes
Rinse 1 can of black beans (I use reduced sodium beans, and also rinse to reduce sodium by another 1/3)
Cumin
½ c. to ¾ c. prepared salsa
Handful of shredded cheddar cheese
Tortilla shell

Roughly mash the sweet potato. Add the beans, salsa, and cumin, and mix.   Put one shell in a hot skillet, sprayed with Pam.  Put the sweet potato/bean mixture on the shell. Top with cheese.   Put second shell on top.  When the cheese begins to melt, flip the quesadilla until the shell is lightly browned.   Cut into 4 sections.  Save the leftovers for me!

Variation:
Put the filling in a casserole, minus the cheese. Put the cheese on top and bake in the oven.  This is a good potluck dish.

Tips to lower sodium:

  • Corn tortilla shells are very low in sodium; flour shells are much higher.
  • A fruit based recipe usually is lower in sodium.  I use a mango-peach salsa in his recipe.  For example, look for recipes for the peach salsa-topped chicken breasts, rather than the marinara-sauce topped chicken breasts.
  • Almost all pre-prepared foods are high in sodium.
  • Swiss cheese is lower in sodium that other cheeses.
  • Rapunzel Vegetable Bouillon, no salt added, can be used instead of chicken broth, with is very high in sodium.
  • Soy sauce is extremely high in sodium.  Substitute Kikkoman Ponzu Citrus Seasoned Dressing and Sauce (360 mg sodium/tablespoon) for soy sauce (950 mg sodium/tablespoon).  Then try to half the sauce that the recipe calls for.  You’ve now reduced the sodium of the recipe by 5/6ths!
  • The down side – once you get used to lower sodium, it will ruin you for eating fast food.  The KFC will taste VERY salty!
  • You can also reduce salt in baked recipes.  When I reduce the salt, it makes the baked goods taste much sweeter, so I’ve wondered if I could further reduce the sugar, but I have not seriously researched it.
  • Vinegars!  If you like vinegars, they are a healthy way to add zip to your recipes.  I use roasted garlic rice vinegar, balsamic vinegars.  There is a whole world of amazing vinegars that I have not yet started exploring.
Tomorrow, I will post the Fiesta Stew, classy enough to serve company and yummy enough to hope some of your company doesn’t show so you’ll have more for yourself!

You cannot even imagine how much I struggled with spelling "quesadilla"!  I must have looked it up 5 times!


Thursday, July 28, 2011

Ballroom Dancing and Marriage

EM and I have been ballroom dancing for almost 6 years. We started to prepare for our niece’s wedding, and got hooked. We agree that we are so lucky to have found a hobby that we enjoy together, that is good for us physically and mentally. We do not dance competitively. The dancing you watch on Dancing With the Stars is choreographed. We are not nearly that skilled and do not do choreographed dance. We dance traditional ballroom dancing where the man leads and the woman follows. However, our experience has some similarities with DWTS. You know when DWTS shows the difficult moments practice session with the stressed out performers? Oh, yes, we've been there many times. The longest our dance classes have been is two hours, and EM and I have each looked at the other person's glazed expression at the end of the class and said, “You're toast!”

So, ballroom dancing and marriage, you ask? I consider myself to be an independent person. I didn't get married until I was almost 30. I moved across country by myself to a new job. I bought a house by myself. EM and I consult each other with every major decision in the household. So the concept of the husband LEADING and my FOLLOWING, was initially hard to accept. After 25 years of marriage, EM and I have learned to depend on each other, but this was a whole new level.  There are times to empty yourself and follow your partner.

Tomorrow night, we are going dancing!

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

First Post








I've had a private blog for several years, although I've been neglecting it recently since I've discovered Facebook.   I called my private blog "a grandma blog", with braggings about my child and reports of family events. I've long been thinking about creating a public blog and with the recent inspiration of a co-worker's blog, acraftyteacher.com, I've been inspired to discipline myself and start a public blog. I intend for my writings to be positive. I am very aware that the written word can be interpreted a variety of ways and that is the reason I have waited this long to have a public blog. I have journaled for a long time and write everything so my daughter can read it someday without an “ouch. “ That is also my intent for this blog.

So, here we go. First you need to know the cast of characters.

Myself – I am a wife, a mom, a speech-language pathologist, a post-menopausal woman posing as a young mom, a foodie, a ballroom dancer and maybe I will think of other things later. My interests also include yoga, health, and reading. Not much high risk behavior at this point in my life, but I'm having lots of fun!

Energizer Man (EM) – He is my husband and is an amusing character who will appear occasionally in the blog. He gets the name EM because he is the strongest, hardest working man I've ever watched work. And that's not just my opinion. He can do anything he needs to do on the computer, but has no interest in social computer networking. He will probably never read this, although I will usually tell him what I write. He is also passionate, intense, and smart.

Almost Teenager (AT) – She is 12 and flips between teenager and child. She is our delight and is creative, intense, talented, and funny. And Dramatic!  Currently, she is gasping as it she were dying, on the other side of the bed, pretending she is stuck under the bed. I'm supposed to bite and go over there to see what the problem is. I don't mean to encourage her with all the drama, but she often catches me off guard and I laugh aloud. I'm either laughing or saying “Stop it!” Now she may be pretending she's climbing on top of a block of ice in the North Sea, since she recently saw the movie The Titantic. That's the way she works.

The Dog – She has just reminded me that she exists. She is almost seven and calmer, but she has spent most of her life trying to be dominant and bossy. The dog never lies. If she says her bone is under the bed, it's under the bed.

The Cat – She is five and bossy also. She is very talkative and her favorite activity is to yell at EM, loudly and repeatedly, which annoys the heck out of him. The cat always lies. If she says she has never been fed today, it's not the truth. The dog LOVES the cat and was delighted when we got her.

One of the primary topics I'll address is FOOD!  Love it. I enjoy cooking for my family, but it is a real challenge. By the time you combine thinking of menu ideas, time-constraints, and individual preferences, it's often overwhelming. EM, due to health issues (which are very well managed), is interested in low sodium, heart-healthy recipes. However, due to his passionate nature, he thinks about food only when hungry. If I ask what he wants to supper and he's not hungry, he has no suggestions. If I say, “Does this taste funny to you?”, he immediately stops eating that food. (You know that I have learned NEVER to say that). We are basically vegetarian at home (we eat seafood), but will attack meat when eating out.

I want savory – umami – strong flavors – food adventures. I've been told I like “stinky” foods and it's true. Hummus, salmon, feta cheese, wasabi, vinegars, smoked oysters, sushi. The list going on and on. I love to plan meals and parties. When I find a great recipe, victory! I plan to post those recipes.

AT is a chickennugget-wheat-tarian. She likes a nice variety of foods, but wants everything seperate, not mixed. She does not eat beef at all and I struggle to get her to eat her veggies and fruit. No vinegars, mayo, white sauces for her.

Why is the blog named "It's Fun to Be a Grownup?"  Because, when I was in my 20s, I had a new job, new friends, new income, new state.  I was on a great adventure and became known for saying "It's fun to be a grownup!"  Now, a long time later, I still feel the same way (usually).

So, off on the blog adventure. I look forward to connecting with you!