Green Monster

I have recently found my favorite drink. I call it the GREEN MONSTER. I call it this because it is seriously a monstrosity full of good for you foods...and it's green :)
Here is the recipe, feel free to adjust to your preference :)

GREEN MONSTER

2 cups of spinach
1/4 cup cottage cheese (or vanilla yogurt)
1 cup of milk ( I use vanilla soy milk, but any will do)
1 frozen banana
1-2 tablespoons peanut butter
*optional post workout addition: 1 scoop whey or soy protein

Blend the spinach, cottage cheese, and milk until smooth. Then add banana and PB. Blend again until smooth. BOTTOMS UP!

I was really skeptical about adding spinach to my fruit smoothie, mostly because I can always taste it when V8 tries to disguise their veggies. I don't like being able to taste distinct flavors when they are so contrasting. I would rather feel a symphony than a few clunky garage bands trying to harmonize on my tongue. Sometimes it just doesn't work. But I promise, this one works! It is so good, and I get sad everytime I see the bottom of the cup.

here i am post workout enjoying my treat of the day 

enjoy it :)

Pinterest and Food

I am dedicating this post to the awesome-ness that is Pinterest. Pinterest is a virtual pin-board, FULL of all sorts of ideas, including recipes. I have 'pinned' so many recipes that I will probably never make, though I hope to. Pinterest has given me the opportunity to realize how much I love food, as well as how in adequate my culinary skills are. Pinterest depresses me. It also gives me hope. I found a quote on there the other day that read:

"The food you eat can be either the safest and most powerful form of medicine or the slowest form of poison." Dr. Ann Wigmore

From that moment on, I decided that I was only going to fill my body with food that would benefit it, not just my taste buds, but also my muscles and organs. There is so much good food in the world, and I am tired of wasting the time and energy it takes to make and digest yucky food. So from now on, all the food I will post about with be healthy and beneficial in more than just it's flavor.
 'Till next time
H. 

Granola Girl

I am sorry to report that this post will not have any pictures to add to the experience, even though granola is a very yummy looking treat.
BUT I figured since it has been so long, its better if I post about it with out pictures than avoid the concept all together.
I made granola for the first time a few weeks ago and it is YUMMY. I LOVE it and I eat way to much...it's healthy right?

So for the recipe:
Rolled oats (how many depends on how much you want. if you want 5 cups of granola, use 5 cups of oats)
Any kind of nuts or dried fruit (my favorite is coconut and almonds)
Brown sugar (about as many table spoons as cups of oats)
Honey- I use about 2 cups, depending on the amount of fillers
Oil- a few tablespoons
vanilla (optional)

Pretty much I throw everything into a bowl and stir it up until the oats and other fillings are coated and sticky with oils and honey. It is all according to personal preference. After it is all coated, spread it out flat onto a greased baking sheet and bake for about 10 minutes at 350*. When it is as dark as you want it, let it sit for a few minutes. It will harden in this time and then be ready to eat in about 20-30 minutes. After it is completely cooled, store it in plastic containers for up to three weeks (mine never lasts that long)

I love this recipe because I can alter it depending on how I want it to be. I eat this stuff everyday, loving every bite.

Fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-lafel: First Meal After Christmas Break

Today was my first day back from break. I went grocery shopping and bought the ingredients to make Falafel. Falafel is a Greek meal made with a base of garbanzo beans served inside a pita.
I got the recipe out of the cookbook that Julie gave me for Christmas. Falafel is a little hard to describe, but here are some testimonials from some of my un-paying customers:
A roommate who has asked that her identity remain anonymous says "It's the best thing that's passed my lips since my first kiss."
Kelby says "Falafel is like hash browns on steroids."
I would like to add that there are no potatoes, which makes it better for you, less starch and more protein.
To make the Fafela, you mash up Garbanzo beans like potatoes, then you add some onions, garlic, and spices..i used cumin and parsley...then some salt and pepper to taste.
after you combine everything, and mash it up all nice, form them into patties...about the width of a ping pong ball.   then you fry them...virtually eliminating any possible health benefits, but making it delicious none the less.
after I fried it, I put it in a pita and added a cucumber cream sauce and then some tomatoes...the recipe also called for shredded carrots, but due to my near empty fridge I wasn't able to add this ingredient.
pretty much it was delicious....

Home Sweet Home

These past few days have been a glorious thing indeed. I have been home from school spending time with my family, and cooking, and eating marvelously. (Seriously, my mamma is the BEST cook I know and I hope to be as great as her someday...)

A few nights ago, she thought she might fancy a turkey dinner this week. So she made one...full on Thanksgiving (except for pies)...yeah, I told you she was A-mazing!! Just the fact that she has time and energy to whip up a gourmet meal like this on any old weekday is freaking fantastic and I love it!

Anyway, she set the turkey out the night before, but it wasn't until last night that she got down to business and started with stuffing, made from scratch, and potatoes, and rolls(also made from scratch) and veggies(home grown and home canned)...

As she cooked, I helped (a little) and took pictures...

My favorite part is the stuffing..

Butter, Evaporated milk, Sage and Poultry Seasoning...you can't go wrong

*Random fact: Celery is negative calories, it takes more calories to eat than it actually gives you.

 Throw in some minced onion and some ground up celery

 Ain't it pretty?

 mmmm butter :)

Don't forget the Evaporated milk!

Stir stir stir!

Taste, and season accordingly....really there are no measurements...it should be (dare use this word) moist, but not wet, and there should be plenty of seasoning...we used almost two sticks of melted butter and a can and a half of milk, along with lots of sprinkles of spices... including salt and pepper. I have discovered that home cooking doesn't involve a lot of measurements, it always tastes better when you just know. 

 BEAUTIFUL! and I'm not just talking about my mom :}

 We look good in the kitchen!

 Getting ready for potatoes!

 We get SO excited to peel potatoes at this house!

Look at those skins fly!

 Rolls anyone?

 so pretty...presentation is everything :}

 Roll roll roll the rolls!

 mmmm Stuffing :)

 Mashed Potatoes!

 Gravy?

my mother makes the BEST gravy. She takes the drippings from whatever meat she is making and then mixes it on the stove with a cornstarch and water mixture. 

turkey. I didn't eat it but I heard it was good.

And there is Logan, ready and waiting at the table. 

I love being home, and I love my mom's cooking even more! She is so talented and everything she makes tastes good! 

next project?

PARTY MIX!

Hot-dog Buns: The All Purpose Food

One thing about the end of the semester is that you are left with either a fridge full of perishable items and only so many days to eat them....or you have no food and you eat terribly (aka taco bell) 

Kimmy and I are left with the first problem. Our roommates left us with so much perishable food, we weren't sure what to do with it all. 

As we made a mental list of our food, we came to find we have an entire bag of hot-dog buns(thank you Becca) and two dozen eggs...as well as some unidentifiable leftovers and some ketchup.

 {this may or may not be a bit of an eggs-aggeration}

It was decided that we were going to see how many things we can make with Hot-dog buns....we thought of the following:

Eggs and toasted buns, fried egg sandwiches,french toast buns

Egg salad sandwiches

 Mini pizzas..did I mention cheese?

The buns would make good garlic bread to accompany some soup, leftover from some one...and I found a recipe for pineapple upside down cake using leftover buns...I wonder if in the case of no pineapple, we could make sweet corn cakes {canned veggies: gotta love 'em}

Salami Paganini? How about fake lunch meat Paganini?...yummy.

{insert gag reflex here}

To accompany our eggs and buns,

We have also discovered 4 bags mini carrots,  some spinach,2 bags of salad,an onion and something that looks like celery....

maybe we will make croutons to go on a salad!

We figure we will eat fairly well, until Kimmy leaves on Sunday...then its just me and my canned veggies..and maybe some noodles. 

This adventure, if nothing else, will teach me to be frugal...I will no longer be the one who throws out leftovers, this creative culinary experimentation will teach me to use everything. 

{yes, I AM becoming my mother}

{who I LOVE}

{and is following this blog...}

{:)}

Wonderful World of Wheat

As I had mentioned before, Julie got me a Vegetarian cookbook for Christmas. Contained within it's glorious pages was a recipe for Taboula, a dish made with Bulgar wheat and fresh vegetables. It is a light salad like dish.
anyway, I was interested in trying it, but I have no Bulgar wheat. So I looked up what it was and found that I could transform wheat berries into Bulgar wheat with a process involving steaming, baking and crushing the berries.
I decided to try it...what else was I going to do with a tub of food storage wheat berries and no wheat grinder....thanks mom.
SO the process began.
I soaked the wheat overnight in water, similar to this picture....

Then I boiled the wheat in 2x as much water needed(so as to avoid burning) on low heat for a good three hours. When I finished boiling it, I spread it out on a tray and then baked it for 30 mins in ten min, intervals, at 350*. It is now cooking on my kitchen counter, waiting for me to crush it, turning it into Bulgar wheat.
And then, I will make my Taboula. and it will be good. and I will post about it.