Jamie Oliver's Super Foods

Recently we found a wonderful channel on DishTV. This channel is called PIVOT.  

Jamie Oliver has a show there called: Super Foods.
So many folks at work have problems drinking 8 glasses of water a day instead of 5 cups of coffee. Check out his recipes for flavored water.

Here is a recipe that I will try next week. Yes, I will post the results.
Sweet Potato Muffins.

If you want to check out Jamie's videos see him on YouTube.

Beautiful Saturday Drive

Sure it was a bit cloudy and some rain, but overall a beautiful day for a drive.

We started our day with breakfast in Fulshear, TX at Essence House Cafe. Wow, we were very impressed. They serve breakfast and lunch. This will be a must stop for lunch next time we take a drive. Hubby had Huevos ala Mexicana while I had the Red Omelette. Check out their menu. For both meals and two cups of coffee our bill was around $28.

This time of the year we take a trip up Cat Spring Road in Cat Spring, TX. We call this lovely road the "Yellow Brick Road". Each side of this small two lane road has loads of red, yellow, orange, blue, white, purple flowers. Most of the homes are cattle ranches. Each home up there is large and lots of property attached. Lots of green and lots of birds. It just smells of country.  These pictures just don't do this place any justice.

We try to find new roads in this area. There are bazillions of small FM roads in Texas. I expect we have driven at least 1/2 of the roads in this area.
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For lunch we stopped in a restaurant we frequent often in Fayetteville, TX called Orsak's Cafe Menu.
They are known for their Chicken Fried Steaks. You might want to split a meal like that. The price is right and the servings are large. Hubby had a Cheese Burger while I had a Jr. Burger. We split an order of fries and a large brownie with ice cream. Our ticket was $14.50.

On our way home we found a new road that just took our breath away. True country with wide open spaces. Remember the weekly show called "Green Acres"? I might be dating myself, but it's a good song. 

Green Acres is the place to be.
Farm livin' is the life for me.
Land spreadin' out so far and wide
Keep Houston, just give me that countryside......

 

I was raised in a small town where most everyone had a garden and a few critters. I moved to the city as a young woman and now have come full circle. My idea of retirement is a country home surrounded by cattle ranches quite a ways from a large city. For example Fayetteville, TX has 258 citizens. My kind of town.

First Week in March

With the help from a co-worker my menu this week was easy. I have been under the weather for a couple days so an easy menu was important.

Now days, I have just about eliminated the large grocery stores. I really hate a large busy store. So, today we shopped at Trader Joe's and Aldi's. 

I try to buy organic fruit and veggies using the "The Dirty dozen and clean 15 of produce" list. If I can't find organic that's in my price range I use a recipe I found on line that eliminates most of the pesticides on the produce using a bit of white vinegar.

This Week's Menu:

2 days of Grass Feed Beef Dogs with chili               
Tacos with corn relish                                
Taco salad
Turkey Caesar Salad
Ribs with grilled veggies and yams
One day out to dinner

Lunches: Potato salad, fruit salad, corn relish, chicken sandwiches. Everything done on Saturday including cooking all the meat on the grill. We use charcoal hardwood and chimney starter.

Out BBQ is much larger than this. Hardwood charcoal burns faster without chemicals

What veggies and fruit did you buy this week:

Celery, broccoli, cilantro, lemons, lines, zucchini, jalapenos, apples, tomatoes, carrots, grapefruit, mushrooms, pablano peppers, avocados, blue berries, unsweetened applesauce, and a bag of red potatoes.
I always wash all the produce with a brush and the ones that I don't buy organic get the vinegar bath. Items in red were organic.

President's Day Week Menu

We took a couple days off and went down the coast to a town called Rockport, TX. The object was to see the birds. We were a few weeks early. March might be a better option. However, we did scope out the town and surrounding areas for birding and hotels/inn/cabin options. Some times its better to scope the place out before you make reservations.

Back at home today and after grocery shopping I washed my produce, will make a large fruit salad (only fruit...using grapefruit instead of lemon juice), marinade the beef for tomorrows lunches, bake blueberry/macadamia nut GF muffins ( using unsweetened applesauce instead of the oil) with some lemon zest and juice for some zing.

Tonight I have left over baked chicken and will make a small (2 portion) casserole with a large salad. We need to get back on PORTION CONTROL. I have a tendency to make to much and yes we eat it all. SOOO I will do my best to make two portions. I think that means 2 small handfuls of dry pasta per person. No canned soup here, I make my own white sauce and add spices.

Since I have been GF I find wheat bread the most difficult to digest. I can have a few noodles and be fine. Eventually, I want to buy a wheat huller and see if making my own flour will help.

I read an article about a lady to always milled her own wheat when making bread. Her wheat mill broke down and she started buying bread from the store and became ill. She was diagnosed being gluten insensitive and was told to stay away from wheat. She broke down and bought another wheat mill, which are not cheap, and her sensitivity went away. She believes the processing of bread was her enemy not wheat. Ummm I think I will try that later.

Note: When flour (white wheat berries) are milled the vitamins disappear within 70 hours leaving just fiber. That's why store bought bread adds all the vitamins back in. Read the labels. Do you have all those ingredients in your cabinet or can you buy those ingredients? Nope.

Menu:

• Chicken veggie casserole/salad
• Pizza (no tomato sauce) with sauteed mushrooms/onions/and garlic,(garlic infused olive oil is my sauce). I will top it with the fresh basil I bought. ummm I don't use much cheese just a bit when cooking the pizza and top the pizza at the end with Parmesan cheese.
• Caesar Salad with grilled salmon (home made dressing with anchovies and tons of garlic)
• Shrimp stir fry with bok choy/green onions/carrots over rice
• Asian salad with marinated beef strips

This looks pretty healthy.

What fresh produce did you buy this week?

Today's produce: heart of Romaine, baby spinach, celery, lemons, apples, cauliflower, cucumbers, green onions, bell pepper, bok choy, blue berries, grapefruit, mushrooms, basil.

Preparing for the week

 

Yes, you have heard this before and I intend to tell you again. Most folks cook on a daily basic and then wonder why they have no time. The precooking I did today took me 2 hours including time to do the dishes. The key is doing a couple things at once. If you are browning meat you can chop up things or, for me, make the Caesar Salad Dressing or make the Salmon Patty mix. Also remember to fill up your sink with soapy water and wash as you cook. Since I have no dishwasher this really helps.


This Weeks Menu

2 nights of Broccoli Beef Stir Fry over rice: Chopped and precooked beef until tender.

Beef Taco's and Black Beans (lunch one day and a couple breakfast burritos for hubby) Cooked burger with Taco seasonings in same pan for beef.(less washing) Black Bean recipe below

{Roasted pablano, jalapeno, tomatoes, and onions for salsa added cilantro, cumin seeds, salt, and a bit of sugar and put in processor. 
Grilled corn tortillas on my "George Foreman Grill" for chips. (any processed corn chips upset my tummy)}

Salmon Patties, brussel sprouts, yams: Made salmon patty mix and put in frig. Recipe below

Salmon Caesar Salad (made spicy garlic Caesar salad dressing, toasted my GF bread and rubbed with garlic, toasted wheat toast for hubby). See dressing below.

Microwaved thick sliced uncured bacon for breakfast and BLT's on Friday. 

Precooked Italian Sausage for middle of week skettie lunch. We put cooked products in our thermos when there is a cold day....so we can warm up at lunch. (note: we take our lunch to work, but do not eat at work. We eat in our car at the park or just the parking lot. You would have to know where we work to understand.)

 Black Beans

1 can of black beans rinsed, 1/4 c red wine or water
2 TB brown sugar
1/4 chopped onion
Cook on medium heat until most of the liquid is gone.
Top with a dollop of sour cream.

 Salmon Patties

Combine: 2 cans of salmon drained, 4 green onions chopped, 1 stalk of celery sliced up (cut celery length wise a couple times so the pieces are smaller), 2 eggs, 1 teaspoon grill seasonings, 1 tablespoon Habeno Sauce, and about 1/2 C bread crumbs (I use left over corn muffins I crumbled up..in freezer).

My Caesar Salad Dressing

Add:
1 can of anchovies and the oil. (I didn't say this was a diet-type recipe just fast)
3 heaping spoons of mayo (lite if you like or with olive oil if you like)
2 LARGE cloves of graded garlic (chopping leaves chunks)
Pepper
squeeze of lemon juice
Milk to thin it out.
I used my immersion blender (a food processor would do also) and blend until smooth
Set aside.
I made my own croutons, but you could buy them.

Easy Spicy Shrimp Stir-Fry

Two servings             Sorry no picture. We were hungry and it disappeared before I remembered it.

Preheat large pan...

Add 
  1 slice cut up bacon
  1 teaspoon sesame seed oil
  1/2 tablespoon butter
  3 sliced green onions
  1 carrot sliced thin
Cook until bacon is fully cooked

Add
  1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
  2 tablespoons peanut sauce
  2 tablespoons water
  left over bag of frozen peas (1/2 C)
  1 1/2 teaspoon Habanero Sauce (I bought mine from our favorite restaurant) or...
Habanero Sauce Recipe

Cook for 3-4 minutes...
Add
  Cooked jumbo shrimp. Cook until warm.

Serve over warm rice

 

Salsa Verde Enchiladas

Salsa Verde Enchiladas

Wash and cut 5 tomatillos in half, 1/2 onion cut in large chunks, 1/2 to 2 pablano peppers and 1 serrano pepper cut in half and seeded.

Rub with olive oil and top with salt and pepper. 

Put on sheet pan and broil until the tomatillos have brown spots and look squishy.Take serrano, tomatillos, and onions out and put in bowl. 

Bake the peppers at 400 degrees until they look almost charred on the outside. Remove from oven.

Put the pablano peppers in a plastic bag and seal.  After about 20 minutes take the pablanos out and peal the skin off. Let the peppers and onions cool.

You can either put the peppers and onion in a blender or use your immersion blender as I do. Blend well. Add 2 tablespoons cilantro, 1 teaspoon cumin seeds crushed by your fingers, and salt and pepper to taste.

Saute 1/4 onion and 1 serrano pepper in 1 tablespoon olive oil.

Add 1 pound ground beef,1 teaspoon cumin seed crushed by your fingers, salt and pepper to taste. Make sure you break up the burger. Add 1/4 C salsa verde. Set aside

Put 8+ corn tortillas in the microwave between two sheets of damp paper towels and cook 30 seconds. Keep these warm by only filling one at a time. Keep the rest in the paper towels.

Fill each tortilla with two tablespoons of the meat mixture and a pinch of cheese  (I used a sliver of yellow cheese, because I am cutting down on hubby's dairy). Roll up and put in a  9x9 greased glass casserole dish. Top with 1/3 C salsa verde. Make sure you get this sauce between each enchilada. Top with cheese.

Cook at 400 for 30 minutes. 

Top with a few leaves of cilantro and thin slices of red onion.

Serve with shredded lettuce, cucumbers, and tomatoes topped with red salsa.