This is about our family as we go through our adventures, follow our dreams, and live life in our own way. The path we walk is ever changing. We try each day to live, find the simple pleasures, and laugh at least once! I am a wife, a mommy, a flaky yet dependable friend, a sister, a daughter, and some one who takes far too many pictures! This is my attempt to not let the tide wash our footprints away!
And the last one was meant to be a special treat for me since I was missing out on some good meals. I have never had fried green tomatoes, so I was determined to make them. I looked everywhere for some green tomatoes (not to be mistaken with tomatillos). I finally found some at Safeway (the 3rd time I checked). They were gorgeous. The next time, I found some at our local farmer’s market. So, they are out there, you just have to be persistent. Well, I found this recipe. I do not have anything to compare them to, but I think they are fabulous! And so did the rest of the fam, so they are a keeper!
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup all-purpose flour, divided
1/2 cup cornmeal
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
3 medium-size green tomatoes, cut into 1/3-inch slices
Vegetable oil
Salt to taste
Preparation
1. Combine egg and buttermilk; set aside.
2. Combine 1/4 cup all-purpose flour, cornmeal, 1 teaspoon salt, and pepper in a shallow bowl or pan.
3. Dredge tomato slices in remaining 1/4 cup flour; dip in egg mixture, and dredge in cornmeal mixture.
4. Pour oil to a depth of 1/4 to 1/2 inch in a large cast-iron skillet; heat to 375°. Drop tomatoes, in batches, into hot oil, and cook 2 minutes on each side or until golden. Drain on paper towels or a rack. Sprinkle hot tomatoes with salt.
Here they are finished. Not the best for you, but a nice treat! Enjoy!
16 oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 red bell pepper, cut into 2 inch pieces
1/2 cup chopped scallions
3 tbsp chopped cilantro
3 cloves garlic, peeled
1 jumbo egg
1 tbsp cumin
1/4 to 1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp hot sauce
1/2 cup quick oats (use gf oats for gluten free)
4 buns (I am including the recipe I used)
1 small avocado, sliced thin
Directions:
Combine mayonnaise and chipotle, set aside.
Dry the beans well after washing, extra moisture keep the burgers from sticking. In a medium bowl, mash beans with a fork until thick and pasty.
In a food processor, finely chop bell pepper, cilantro, onion, and garlic, then add oats, then eggs and spices. Then stir into mashed beans.
Divide mixture into four patties (using slightly oiled hands helps) and place them onto a flat surface covered with wax paper. (If it's too wet, chill the mixture 30 minutes in the refrigerator or add another tablespoon of oats)
Freeze at least 2 hours before cooking or keep frozen until ready to cook.
Heat a lightly sprayed skillet to medium heat and cook frozen burgers about 7 minutes on each side.
If grilling, preheat grill over medium heat, and lightly oil a sheet of aluminum foil; grill 7-8 minutes on each side or you can bake in the oven at 375° on a lightly oiled baking sheet.
These are our first attempt. Really wonderful recipe!
3/4 to 1 cup lukewarm water
2 tablespoons butter
1 large egg
3 1/2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon instant yeast
*For best results (a smooth, slightly soft dough), use the smaller amount of water in summer (or in a humid environment), the greater amount in winter (or in a dry climate); and something in between the rest of the time.
Topping
3 tablespoons melted butter
Seeds (optional; we used sesame seeds)
Directions
1) Mix and knead all of the dough ingredients — by hand, mixer, or bread machine — to make a soft, smooth dough.
2) Cover the dough, and let it rise for 1 to 2 hours, or until it's nearly doubled in bulk.
3) Gently deflate the dough, and divide it into 8 pieces. Shape each piece into a round ball; flatten to about 3" across. Place the buns on a lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheet, cover, and let rise for about an hour, until noticeably puffy.
4) Brush the buns with about half of the melted butter.
5) Bake the buns in a preheated 375°F oven for 15 to 18 minutes, until golden. Remove them from the oven, and brush with the remaining melted butter. This will give the buns a satiny, buttery crust.
Well, once again I cannot seem to get going with the blog. I do have some yummy recipes to share…..so maybe you can forgive me just a little? I am going to split them up into different posts so it will not be too much on one post.
We have had a very busy month, and it gets nothing but busier from here! As some of you know, we are moving (yes, again). We will be living closer to my mom. There is also a really fantastic (and new!) program up at the local community college that Allen is really excited to start. I love the area and cannot wait to show the girls all the neat outdoors stuff we can do. I am sure we will make our way back to the ocean in the future, but for now, we are getting excited for our new adventure inland!
And what an adventure it will be! So many new places to discover! We have also decided to home-school both the girls, so we have some work ahead of us. I know this will be so great for all of us.
This past month we have had some wonderful visitors! My sister-in-law and her kids (grown) came for about a week. They had a great visit, and we showed them some wonderful places. Then my Aunt and cousin came, and we were able to hang out with them for a couple of days. So awesome! Now this next month we will be coming and going all over, have another guest scheduled to visit, need to pack and move, and then we go on our vacation! We will make the rounds down to Southern California, and then back to our new place. Wow! Well, I guess I can never say I am bored.
So for the month of July I decided to follow a pescatarian diet. This is a vegetarian diet, except adding in seafood. I chose to do this to help kick start a lifestyle change for a healthier diet. I did not track my weight, but I tell you that I have lost enough weight for other people to notice, and I am down a size in pants. Not too bad! Most importantly, I FEEL so much better! For the most part, I have more energy and improved mood. I have also been sleeping better. Now, I did not monitor my protein intake enough a couple of times, and I found the days this happened, I was very tired and a little crabby. Overall, I think it was great, and not as hard as I thought it would be.
Okay, I began my diet at dinner on June 30th, so I get my first meat meal for dinner on July 31st. And my wonderful husband brought home smoked garlic pork sausages that they made in school. Oh yummm! I am very happy, and know I am going to be able to make the changes I need. Now just to get back to the exercising more regularly. I think I will try a wheat free diet for 30 days after the move. We will see…..
There were some yummy recipes that helped me through this month. I will share them with you. Here is the first one:
If you have ever been to Eugene, you may have eaten or heard of a place called the Yumm Café. I have never been, but have recently heard many people rave about an item on the menu called a Yumm Bowl. Even hardcore meat eaters say how much they look forward to having these on the menu. They are essentially a rice and bean bowl with added goodies. However, there is a sauce. It is called, you guessed it, Yumm Sauce. To be honest, I made it and it did not taste so great. But everyone said to let it sit in the fridge for 24 hours. Did that, still didn't seem like anything special. Thankfully I do not easily give up on new things. We went ahead with the meal, assembled our bowls the ‘traditional’ way, stirred it all up and dug in. Oh my, these are WONDERFUL!! Every one of us could not stop shoveling the yumminess into our mouths! The sauce just adds that little something that brings it all together. Seriously, give it a chance. My husband actually requests these A LOT! Alright, enough. Here is the sauce recipe:
1/2 cup canola oil (preferably cold pressed)
1/2 cup almonds (for a creamier sauce, use almond flour)
1/3 cup nutritional yeast (find at Whole Foods, Fred Meyer and natural stores; usually in the bulk section)
1/2 cup chickpeas or 1/2 cup garbanzo beans, cooked
1/4 cup soybeans, cooked (not green edamame beans)
1/2 cup filtered water (important for flavor)
1/2 cup lemon juice (fresh is best)
1 -2 garlic clove (small to medium size)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried cilantro
Directions:
1. In a blender or food processor blend almonds, beans and oil.
2. Add all other ingredients and puree until creamy smooth.
3. Cover and let stand in the refrigerator for one hour (24 hours for best results)
4. Don't cover to tight, remember the yeast (I put the sauce in a jar and cover it with a coffee filter and rubber band)
The wonderful thing about these bowls is that you can do whatever you want to them. Meats, veggies, cheeses, anything you want! We do it the original way from the restaurant. Here is the clip I watched to see how they make them in house:
I cannot guarantee how soon I will be back, so I just had to share these wonderful recipes! I will make two more posts with the others. I really hope you give one (or all) of them a try! And let me know how they turn out!!
If anyone was wondering, I am still here! It has been a BUSY few months, so please excuse my absence. In these last months I have been tied up with something called March Against Monsanto (MAM). MAM was a march/rally founded by a mother of 2 who wanted to speak out against Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO's). It became a global event with over 2 million people participating all over the world, and is now an annual event.
This is an issue my family and I are very adamant about. So I stepped up and helped organize a march for our city. Extremely time consuming, stressful, but totally worth it. So many amazing people stepped up and stood against those who are doing wrong. All walks, coming together for a unified purpose. I am truly blessed to have been a part of something so much greater than myself, an to meet such amazing people. I won't take on the amount I did this time, but I will definitely continue with this fight for our food!
So in our home, the food has changed drastically. We are about 90% GMO free. Getting out of the mind set that food is supposed to be cheap is the hardest, but we are transitioning great! Sometimes an item is just too expensive, or we have no alternatives, so I always remind myself that progress is important, not perfection!
With that, I have decided to start again on my diet. It got pushed to the side with the rally and life, but I have taken some time to recoup, and am ready to start again! To jump start it, I have decided to attempt a vegetarian diet for the month of July. Hopefully I can share some yummy recipes I discover. I am coming to the end of Day 2, and feeling great! I even made bacon for the girls and did not have a bite!
Hopefully this will be a more regular thing! I hope this finds you all well and happy!
