Knish

  Ok, so more than likely you have either never eaten, or never heard of knish. If you have eaten it, then odds are you have not bothered to try and make it. Maybe you are intimidated by this seemingly laborious dish? Maybe the thought of  having to make from scratch dough has you unnerved? Maybe you can't pronounce it so making it is a deal breaker.....blah blah. ITS EASY YALL!! I swear. It's a tad time consuming, but honestly most from scratch dishes are. The upside is you can double your filling recipe, freeze half, and next time only have to make the dough. Thus making a super yummy, easy, and quick week night dinner.
  So what is Knish. I suggest you google the origin if you have to know, but basically it is an easter European street food. Normal filled with a mix of potatoes, veggies, and some kind of cheese. You can make them with meat too. Brisket makes delicious knish. We typically make a variation of potato, veggies and goat cheese. Its the family favorite. We bake ours but they can be fried, or even grilled.  I found and adapted my  recipe for the dough on the  Smitten Kitchen website. She found hers from some guy who seems to know his stuff when it comes to knish. I suggest you give that a look one day. He uses rendered chicken fat (schmaltz) vs oil, and I bet its amazing. So really, give them a try. They are sooooooo good, and pretty simple. You won't be sorry, promise!

Dough:
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
teaspoon baking powder
half teaspoon salt
1 egg
1/2 cup oil ( I use grape seed oil, but you can use any mildly flavored oil)
1/2 cup water
teaspoon vinegar

Filling:
potatoes-depending on the kind you use, I used 5 ukon gold for this recipe and made 2 batches of knish
1 small onion
2 roasted red peppers
1 bunch rainbow chard
A few big dollops of goat cheese

*You could use ANY veggie you like, you could add bacon, you could sub the goat cheese for another  cheese...the filling is all up to you. In our house it varies depending on what we have on hand. The base is always potatoes, though.

Step 1- DOUGH:
  Mix your dry ingredients in a bowl. In a separate bowl add water, oil, vinegar, and the egg, then whisk. Next, pour the wet with the dry and mix. I use a big spoon at first then normally finish mixing with my hands. Once the dough has come together, form it into a ball and let rest in the fridge while you make the filling. I always wrap mine in wax paper, but you could just leave in the bowl and cover it with plastic wrap.

Step 2- FILLING
  -Peel or just clean your potatoes, its up to you if you want the the peel on there. Chop and boil. Once they are soft, drain.
  _chop your onion, greens, peppers, and any other veggie you are adding and sauté util tender.
-add the sautéed veggies into the potatoes, and any cheese you are using and mash with a hand masher ( ***if using a hand mixer instead, mash the potatoes first then use a large spoon and fold in the rest----for the sake of not making a huge mess)

Assembly:
So if a picture is worth a thousand words, then I could just show pictures of this part...or type  1,000 words, or split the difference. I"ll split the difference and give you both.

- First flour a flat surface ,and your rolling pin

-Next, roll your dough out into a nice large rectangle .....or as close as you can get. It needs to be about as thick as pie crust dough. Once you get it rolled out into a rectangle, trim the 4 sides to even them up.

-Take your filling and make a line of the mixture down the dough starting a few inches from the edge. Don't pile it too thick, it will ooze out while baking.

-Now, you are going to start rolling your knish. Fold the extra dough closest to you,over your mixture ,and start rolling.

-Once you get to the end, brush with egg wash to seal up the seam. (1 egg and a few teaspoons of water whisked together)

             

NOW FOR THE TRICKY PART:

(not really, I'm just messing with you)

 -Now we you have to cut the knish. Start at the end of the "roll". You will pinch and twist the dough about 2-3 inches in.

 -Next you will cut the twist with a sharp knife

 -Finally, place the "twisted" side down, (the knish bottom) and use your finger to tuck the extra dough into the center of the top.

                                                                       not so pretty

much better

REPEAT WITH REMAINING DOUGH!

*Place prepared knish on a baking sheet sprayed with oil, or lined with parchment

*Brush all knish with remaining egg wash

*Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until golden brown!

SERIOUSLY, WORTH ALL OF THE  EFFORT!

Enjoy!

Roasted Eggplant and Portabello Lasagna:

  Its Monday and that means produce delivery day! Unfortunately I went grocery shopping last Wednesday and our produce list is not emailed until Friday. Long story (I mean its really not a long story at all, but whatever) short, I had more eggplant and Mushrooms than I had planned for. I was going to make eggplant parm but decided I would try and make something with the eggplant and the mushrooms together ......mostly because I am out of room in my fridge and needed to use them before they went bad...I found a few recipes online, but ultimately decided to mix a couple and make my own. I did not use mozzarella cheese because we have dairy issues around here. I thought the ricotta and parm would be enough without being overkill. You could easily mix some grated motz into your cheese mix though. I personally believe there can never be too much cheese. My stomach tends to disagree, though. I love mixing as many veggies into my sauce as I can. I always add some greens, because I love pretty much any green. Plus, you sneak in some flavor and vitamins! win, win!!!  So here is how I used some of my organic produce delivery this week!

What you will need:
* 2 small or large eggplants
* 2 portobello mushroom caps, stems and ribs removed
* 1 bell pepper ( I used red, but use any you like)
* 2 medium yellow onions
*2 carrots
*3 cups of any green, spinach, chard,  kale (I used heirloom spinach)
*a few cloves of garlic
*1 package of lasagna noodles
* 16 oz ricotta cheese (I prefer whole milk)
* 3/4 cups of grated parmesan cheese
*1 egg
*1 large can of whole stewed tomatoes
*1 can of diced or stewed tomatoes
*salt, pepper, dried thyme, oregano, and oil of your choice.

Roasted veggies:

preheat over to 450:

-Slice eggplant in thin, quarter inch circles. Lay out on paper towels and sprinkle with salt. Let sit for 5 minutes.
-Slice the pepper, 1 onion, and mushrooms into thin strips.
-Arrange the vegetables on a baking sheets. Spray or drizzle oil over veggies and a few shakes of salt.  Roast in oven until they begin to brown, maybe 20-25 minutes. (this is when I start my sauce)

Sauce:
-blend large can of tomaotes (I use my nutribullet)
-chop onion and carrots into small pieces
-crush and chop garlic cloves (or add 2 teaspoons already prepared garlic)
-heat a large pot with oil of your choice (I use grape seed oil) and sauté the onion and carrots for  a few minutes.
-wash and chop your greens and add to the pot. Let the greens cook down until wilted
-add the blended tomatoes. Drain the diced or stewed tomatoes and add those.
-season with salt, pepper to taste, about 1 teaspoon oregano, and 1 teaspoon thyme  (or whatever herbs you prefer)
-let sauce simmer for about 25-30 minutes (while veggies roast)

cheese mixture:
-mix ricotta, parm and egg in a bowl.

Build the lasagna:
-spread a thin layer of sauce on the bottom of a 9x13 casserole dish
-next add a layer of noodles, then add a few big spoonfuls of cheese mix on the noodles and spread evenly
-evenly layer half of your roasted veggies on top of cheese mix
-add another thin layer of sauce
-repeat above steps once more
-finally add a last layer of noodles, left over cheese and a thin layer of sauce.
-sprinkle a thin layer of grated parm on top
-bake at 350 for half an hour. Should be golden and bubbly on top.
- LET COOL, SLICE AND SERVE

Ballet recital at 35

 Ballet....the thing I always wanted to learn as a child , but never took a class. If you ask my parents you get two varying stories as to why. Either way, it was a squashed childhood dream. All the while my brother got to be a boy scout and my parents where even den learders ( not bitter at all..not one bit...fully recovered from this act of favoritism..whatever)
  I had a cousin who danced and I just wanted to be her.. I loved looking at all of her old costumes hanging in my aunts closet. Tutus, tule and  sequins...most little girls dream. On the rare occasion she let me in her room I would just stand in awe of her point shoes hanging on her wall...I wanted those shoes!! I would go as far as trying to make point shoes out of cardboard and duck tape, dancing around my living room to my parents oldies collection.  Its a wonder I never broke my ankle.....As years wore on I stopped asking to dance and took  up whatever sports were offered at school.  I accepted my future as "not a ballerina". I chose cheerleading because we got make up dances, not because I liked cheering. At this point I would not dare attempt to learn  ballet at risk of embarrassing my self for life.  Middle and high school are brutal enough.
  I remember watching an episode of Cheers where Diane decides to pursue her dream of dance by auditioning  for some ballet....Sam warns her she is only going to embarrass herself ,but she is determined to go through with it...needless to say it goes badly. This stuck with me for a VERY LONG TIME. I would always think back to poor, sad, embarrassed Diane as a reminder of why a grown up should not attempt ballet...
  So as most parents do, I decided to live vicariously though my children, and slapped them in dance as soon as they were old enough. Now I would have never if they did not seem interested, but they did. I swear... This may or may not have had something to do with my encouragement for all things ballet related, the purchasing of  fairy tutus, and forced viewings of the nutcracker on PBS each year..but we will never really know, will we.  P loved her pre ballet class ,while Ava resisted for a few years in favor of soccer and karate. Eventually the lure became too much for her and she decided to dance too.
  At some point when looking over their fall schedule one year, I noticed their studio offered adult classes.....ADULT CLASSES.....but as much as I wanted too, I just kept thinking  "don't pull a Daine, Kat..DOOONNNN'TTTT ) but alas, Dave is not Sam. Dave is encouraging.  I had also just had a baby, like a month before class started, and need to loose some baby weight.  So I signed up. I was told to go buy a leotard. I just had a baby..Just had a baby. "Hey adult lady who just had a baby, you will NEED a leotard, and tights"  ummmmm. what...NO! But wait, a leotard will help hold all that extra in! Brilliant. ummmmmmm, that assumption was false...I learned this after recruiting a few friends to class ( I was actually not about to step in there alone. That would have been super nuts) and we all headed off to the dance store together. I think it was equally traumatic for all of us.
   They only lasted a little while. I loved it from the minute I was able to get over the sight of me in that leotard! Our teacher is the best. She is able to teach a class of grown women how to dance without pulling her hair out. We are  a mixed bag. Some have danced most of their lives, some  like me who have never. We are 17-60 something years old.
  I have terrible ballet arms.  It haunts me in my sleep. I can not spot my pique and chaines turns. I have to remind myself to keep my toes pointed, always. I have to remind myself the elbow points in the direction you are moving.  Pull in from the core, shoulders back and down, chin up, legs straight, toes pointed, leg turned out....and so on and so on and so on.
  And this year we are in recital.  We must be lunatics. Full costume, makeup and hair.  Sharing a stage with 3-18 year olds.  We may royally screw up.. ( yet we have practiced for months) some people may think we are ridiculous, but I think someone will be inspired in that big audience. Some one who was scared to try something new, that they always wanted to do. At least I hope we inspire someone. We are not the best ,but its not a contest. I think we are brave. I think if you can get on a stage as a 30-50 something year old in a leotard, wearing too much make up and dance for hundreds of people, you are braver than most people. You have  confidence you didn't know you had. I am so proud of our grownie ballet class. I am so thankful for our teacher and her faith and confidence in us. I am so excited to share a stage with my girls. Its memory we will always have. They think I look beautiful in my less than attractive recital dress. They think it is amazing that I take ballet at their studio, from their teacher.  They are not embarrassed by me ,but proud that I am their mom. I pray that it is an example that they will always take with them in life. To be brave..not give a rip what other people think...to do things you love even ifyou are not amazing at doing it...try new things that scare you...be and inspiration to others..BE A DIANE. Don't  live in fear. Its paralyzing.
  So dance, sing, twirl, skip, play kazoo, learn the banjo, climb a mountain, run a marathon, ride your bike across the country...WHATEVER..just get out there and try it. Even if it means wearing a leotard as a grown A** woman!  Fl theater this saturday...you can see it for yourself...Im not scared to invite you. If it goes well, then all that practice payed off..if it goes horribly wrong, we can all laugh about it later.  We only get one chance at life people, make it count!

   If you would have had a conversation with me two months ago about my feelings on Boston, it would have gone starkly different than it would today. For starters, it is finally spring time here. It was an incredibly long and hard winter. Spring time in Boston (and I am guessing for most North Eastern cities) is amazing and fairytale like...there are birds and tulips and trees that literally rain down tiny little pink and white and yellow flowers...everything smells so good and happy and new. And everyone finally seems happy because they have spent months, and months, and months, indoors ...... shoveling themselves out, and trudging over pile after pile of sloppy, dirty old snow.
    I vividly remember every emotion and thought I had prior to our move here. I am an "overly passionate" person some would say ( DAVE) and that is not always and endearing trait..as it turns out, passion can be confused by those around you as anger or aggression from time to time ( I know! I was shocked to learn this too!!) but those of us who are 'overly passionate" know it comes from a place of love, excitement and mostly just overwhelming emotional attachment to a thing...I am very easily attached to things..my heart is big and squishy and spills over most of the time. I was optimistic about our move. I had always wanted to go to New England and it was exciting. A new start and there are actual seasons there!! But still I cried for 10 of our 20 hour pilgrimage..My heart instantly ached for my home, friends and family. These friends that have become our family. They know us up and down, good and bad. They have cried with us, laughed with us. We have fought and made up. We have "grown up" together..we have witnessed the births of each others children and been at every birthday party. We have visited each other in hospitals and held hands when we were scared. We have comforted and been comforted at times of loss. We have prayed with each other, held one another accountable. We have listened and been listened to we have loved and been loved beyond anything we could ever deserve....and I over passionately cried and cried and cried as we drove away...
       Friendships take time, and trust and heart and more time...and it seems the older we get, the harder it is to make friends...this move has certainly proved that true. A lady told me yesterday that in the south people will welcome you with open arms, and over time decide if they like you, gradually backing off if you are not a good fit...but in the north they keep up a brick wall and slowly remove one brick at time  until they are ready to let you in...I found this to be a very true and interesting observation...I think the southern approach will cause heart ache down the road..and I think the northern approach causes heart ache from the jump...this said  its been a pretty lonely year and  half here and we were certainly not greeted with a smile and open arms....it is a cold city on more than one level.
   But then a unimaginable terror happened in this city last week....it was devastating and horrible and  just  insane..we watched it all unfold with the rest of the country on the news..but we were sitting just miles away from the reality. Dave's office stayed closed for a week and a half  because the area surrounding it remained a crime scene...we sat on lock down, not leaving our homes because we were told not to as they hunted down the person responsible for these crimes, this terror.... the one who took multiply lives, left countless people in critical condition..devastating an entire city. It was surreal to say the least....and I watched this city that I have felt no connection to prior to this, stand together..I watched the bravery and determination of this city...I watched the city get back up and move forward despite such tragedy.....and I finally felt like I had some connection here.....a bond you could only have if you here for this thing..this tragedy...it links you together somehow...because you came out of it together...even if you have not clue who the  "yous" are on a personal level..
   I drove Dave to work today and the city was lively...full of people out and about, because it is a beautiful day...its spring time in Boston..trees raining flower and birds singing and police barricades are coming down. I could not help but smile but then suddenly before I knew what happened I was crying. We move in three weeks and my big squishy heart began to ache. I know I want to go home. Our kids want to go home...I want to be able to drive them to see their grandparents and spend summers with their families..( without spending 50 hours in our car) I want to be close by as our parents age and need us close...I want to be close by our parents as our kids grow and we need their support and encouragement.. this city has history, charm and beauty by the bucketful..it does not have our friends and family and personal history which is worth its weight in gold... but has a little piece of me now.
    This year has been hard, discouraging, and up hill all the way battle...it has taken a toll on each of us differently..there has been many tears and broken hearts...mine has been broken for sure..but taped, glued and sewed back together little by little...and nestled right in the middle of my big, broken/mended, squishy, overly passionate heart, there is a piece of shrapnel left by this city..and I never want it removed..it will stay there forever..because I will never forget the loneliness and hurt..and I will never ever forget how much I changed and grew and learned from being here...God breaks us and sifts us to refine us...and as strange as it may sound, Boston refined me...and I will be forever grateful.

Sweet Potato and Quinoa Falafel

So due to an over abundance of sweet potatoes, I decided to poke
around th

e interwebs for some new recipe ideas....In my search I stumbled across a recipe for sweet potato falafel and I LOVE FALAFEL!!!

So Ifigured what the heck. Now naturally I was not satisfied with the found recipe and decide to change it up. For starters it was only sweet potato and spice..this in my mind seemed too mushy. I

like the grit of a falafel. So I decided to try

adding quinoa, and It worked...it added just enough grit, helped hold it together and made it even healthier!! Now because it is not monday yet I took some liberty, and therefore it is not totally vegan. The falafel itself is but of course I felt the need to top it with a yogurt lemon dressing...also I felt the need to serve it with a hot bowl of matzo ball soup!!!!! NOMMNOMMNOMMM MATZO BALL SOUP!

I think I liked the end result..a sweet falafel ball. It my no means changes my love for a good ol fashioned falafel..and honestly I think I prefer the ol fashion to the new fangeled. But I was able to use us my potatoes before the produce delivery man dropped more on my doorstep, literally, while I was pealing the before mentioned sweet potatoes..and it is healthy , so you can't beat that!

RECIPE:

- 2 sweet potatoes

-1/2 cup uncooked quinoa

-1 cup water

-1 1/2 teaspoon cumin

-1 1/2 teaspoon coriander

-1/4 teaspoon turmeric

-3 cloves chopped garlic

-palm full of parsley

-salt and pepper to taste

-1/4 cup whole wheat flour

*preheat oven to 450 degrees

*chop and boil sweet potatoes, drain

*bring 1 cup water to boil, add quinoa and simmer until water is absorbed

*in a bowl mash potatoes, mix in cooked quinoa and flour and mix

*mix in garlic, parsley and spice

*on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, scoop potato mixture with a small scoop or spoon to form falafel balls

*spray with a light coating of cooking spray and bake at 450 for about 20-25 minutes

falafel balls should brown on outside a bit and be crisp to the touch.

****serve in pita with lettuce, tomato, cucumber and whatever else you like!

*

21 days : Vegan, Gluten free, Refined sugar free

Ok, so we are going vegan, Gluten Free, and Refined sugar free for 21 days!!

Yikes, I love me some bread so this is not gonna be a cake walk..ahahhahahahhahaha..I am such a nerd...pretty sure I am the only one laughing at that one. Ok, so my sister in law is actually the one responsible for this idea..I just blindly jumped on the train because I like a challenge...everything is more appealing if it seems like a game, am I right? Also being that we have moved a million miles from home, and I am currently friendless and bored in a the big city.....its seemed like something to fill my time.

It should not be too hard. We actually just finished a 3 day juice fast so anything is a step up from that. I am just happy to be chewing anything honestly..just don't make juice for three days ever again! ( after saying this out loud as I type it, I instantly am positive I will one day do it again..blraggggg!) It had its perks. Felt great after..stomach felt good, did not miss coffee, did not really miss sugar...just missed eating. So going vegan, sugar free and gluten free seems doable.

The plan here is simple: find recipes, tweak them, make up recipes, take pictures, post pictures and recipes and share.

So if you are feeling crazy, THERE IS PLENTY OF ROOM ON THIS TRAIN!

We are starting monday so expect pics and updates starting monday morning! whoop!!!

Quinoa/ Veggie burgers

So I wanted a veggie burger...an excellent one...delicious...healthy and home made...not a gross frozen one. So like any ambitious cook would do, I started digging through the fridge in search of on hand veggies...pulling out the bag of quinoa and devising my plan.....but like in any story there is a beginning and mine started in Asheville Nc.

We went to Asheville for our 10th anniversary and of course visited the Biltmore Estate. After the long, hunger inducing tour was over, we ended up eating lunch at the Carriage House. I order a veggie burger and was surely skeptical. If you have never been to Asheville let me tell you its the bees knees for all foodies...I wanted to eat somewhere way more exciting but I was too hungry to wait.. The nice waiter assured me the veggie burger was his favorite thing on the menu. Well, he didn't lie. It actually turned out being one of the best veggie burgers I had ever had. Odd, because Dave's food was gross and the menu as a whole did not appeal to me. When the nice waiter brought us our check he also brought out a card with the recipe on it! GREAT..HOORAY....but of course me being me..I lost it..SUCK......this was some time ago. Long enough that I forgot all about it until staring into my pantry at a bag of quinoa that I needed to use up. Then I remembered the burger and decided I had to make up a recipe for a delicious quinoa/veggie burger..BETTER THAN THE CARRIAGE HOUSE..( this cold air is getting to me, giving me high hopes and lofty ambitions ) so here it is. I was impressed with even myself. If you hate it, well I am sorry. If you love it..YAY. Its healthy and yummy and pretty easy.

*1 cup cooked quinoa

*1 cup herb bread crumbs (i used day old french bread and tossed in some rosemary and thyme)

*1 red bell pepper

*1/2 red onion

* 1 cup carrots

*1 and 1/2 cup broccoli

*1 can drained and rinsed black beans

*1 8oz can tomato sauce

*1 egg

*1/4 cup whole wheat flour

* a few good shakes of turmeric ( cause that's how I cook)

*a shake of cumin

*salt and pepper

* and if you don't use herbs in your bread crumbs, maybe and little rosemary and thyme

-

-chop all veggies pretty small and sauté in pan with preferred oil until tender...dump beans in too

-mix quinoa, bread crumbs and tomato sauce in bowl

-dump veggie mix in a food processor or blender and pulse..just to break down and mix em up a bit.

-combined veggies with quinoa and bread crumbs

-add spices and egg and mix until combined

-add flour a little at a time, just until it has thickened up a bit

-form burgers and cook in skillet or grill pan

It will make you around 10 burgers..I tossed the leftovers in my freezer and fully plan on reheating them for lunch later this week!

#9 Kale and white bean soup with roasted red pepper

-1 buch kale, leaves removed from tough stalks, chopped

-1 cup cut button or crimini mushrooms

-1 can white beans drained

-1 roasted red pepper chopped

-4 cups vegetable stock

-2 cups water

-1/2 white onion

-1 tablespoon minced garlic

-1 teaspoon thyme

-salt and pepper to taste

-dash of lemon juice

-table spoon olive oil

*heat oil in heavy stock pot, add garlic and onions until tender

*add broth, water, mushrooms, and beans

*add roasted red pepper

*once liquid is to a boil add the kale and let wilt into soup

*add thyme, lemon juice, salt and pepper and simmer for 20 minutes

*serve as is or sprinkled with shredded cheddar cheese

***** i just realized how much it looks like Christmas in a bowl...random side note

#7 Flourless chocolate cake with Garbanzo beans

Ok, I know you might be thinking there is no way you can make a cake with beans and it be good. Well I hate to tell you but you are dead wrong!!! And then I manage to take it a few step farther and take out the sugar and butter......OH, NOW SHE HAS LOST HER DANG MIND....nope! my brain is still in my head (although some people might still want to argue that fact) Now I do not really want to dispute the joy of a cake baked with flour and sugar and butter, dripping with delicious butter cream frosting...I love cake, and I double love cupcakes...but I have husband who can't eat a lot of things and over the last few years our diet has done a lot of changing mostly out of need. I have sworn I would never cut out gluten claiming it was not hurting anyone in this house but now it seems that might not be true. So instead of being heart broken I figure it is just better adapt and move on. This cake is dense and almost brownie like. It is perfect topped with whip cream or ice cream...rich and but light at the same time! I am not 100% awesome with measurement. I know it should be more accurate with this if I am gonna go making up recipes but if you just do what I say, around about, it will turn out and it will not disappoint... I hope......

Flourless Chocolate cake with garbanzo beans

-4 eggs

-1 can garbanzo beans drained

-10 oz chocolate chips..i use bitter or semi sweet(so not a whole bag maybe like a cup plus an hand full ;)

-1/3 cup coconut oil

-one big heaping table spoon almond butter

-three good squirts of agave nectar

1/2 baking soda

*in a blender of food processor, process beans until smooth

*in a a small pot or double bowler, mix chocolate chips, almond butter and coconut oil over low heat until melted

*add chocolate, eggs, baking soda, and agave to beans in food processor and blend until smooth.

*prepare and 9 to 10 inch round cake pan, add batter and bake on 350 for 30-40 minutes or util center is set and a tooth pick comes out clean when put in center of cake.

*cool and top with whip cream or at our house we top it off with coconut milk vanilla bean ice cream!!! WOOT

*****i failed to take a picture BEFORE we almost destroyed the cake....one slice left and it has my name on it!

#6 Healthy Granola cookies

So I want to eat and I want to eat junk most of the time....but that is not going to get any of us any where....so i decided I needed a cookie that did not make me feel bad. Thus the healthy granola cookie was born. It has only a little brown sugar, whole wheat flour and is perfect with a cup coffee after dinner!

-1 cup whole wheat flour

-1/3 cup coconut oil

-1/3 cup brown sugar

-1 egg

-tspn vanilla

-pinch of salt

-1/3 to 1/2 cup granola of your choosing

-1/4 cup raisins or dark chocolate chips

-squirt of agave nectar or honey

*mix coconut oil brown sugar and vanilla then add egg and mix

*next add the flour, pinch of salt and granola

*squirt in a little agave or honey for a little more sweetness and mix

*fold in raisins or chocolate chips

*i use a small melon sized scoop to form them. bake at 350 until done (10-13 mintues) they stay sort of "mounded" up but are super yummy.

# 5 Leek and Walnut Souffles

So I took an few weeks off from updating the ol blog due to various visitors coming into town but I am back and ready to cook! This said, I have not gotten a delivery since last Tuesday so I did not make something this week from the goods....instead I decided to make this tasty little souffle that is sure to please even the pickiest of eaters (ok, that might be a flat out lie but 3 out of 4 in our house gladly eat it and the littlest one eats it with only a little bit of urging and desert bribery). My husband claims it reminds him of thanksgiving but i think that is because I use rosemary and thyme to season....but I guess if you were in the mood for some holiday goodness and it is just June you could give this a whirl and see if it hits the spot!

LEEK AND WALNUT SOUFFLES

(adapted and tweaked from the Vegetarian Bible cook book)

makes 4 souffles

2 leeks

-olive oil

-1/2 cup vegetable stock

-1/2 cup walnuts ( almonds would work if thats all you have on hand)

-2 eggs, separated

-2 tablespoons of mixed herbs (i use thyme, rosemary, salt and pepper)

-2 tbsp plain greek yogurt

* chop leeks (i don't use the tough dark green ends) and drop them in a bowl of cold water and swirl them around with hands...this cleans all the dirt and sand off, it just falls to the bottom and the leeks float to the top!

*heat pan with few table spoons of olive oil (I like to use coconut oil but i always have it on hand)

saute leeks for a few minutes then add veg. stock and simmer a few more minutes, until tender.

*in a food processor, process nuts until fine then add leek mixture and process until you form a puree.

*mix egg yokes, herbs, and yogurt until combined. pour egg mixture into leek puree. season with salt and pepper to taste.

*in a separate bowl whisk egg whites until firm peaks form ( i do this in my stand up mixer)

*gently fold egg whites into the leek mixture. spoon mixture into 4 prepared souffle dishes or into one 1 quart dish.

*place on preheated baking sheet and cook on 350 for 35-40 minutes, or until well set, risen and golden brown!

I served these tonight with dill carrots, roasted kobocha squashed , and a salad with stone ground mustard and honey vinaigrette

Recipe #4 Sweet Potato Quesadillas

4 sweet potatoes

1 medium yellow onion

1 clove garlic

1/4 cup salsa (or more if you like)

1/4 cup sour cream or plain Greek yogurt( can be omitted and replaces with one mashed avocado for a vegan version)

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 package tortillas

(if the mixture is too lumpy or just not to your liking then add more salsa or sour cream..depends on the size of you potatoes... measuring is not my thing so these are rough estimates )

*thinly slice onions, chop garlic and saute until translucent(set aside)

*cube sweet potatoes and boil until tender, drain and mash

*add onions, sour cream (or avocado) salsa and spice to the mashed potatoes and stir

*put scoop of mixture in tortilla, fold in half and heat in frying pan until golden.

you can add cheese but i am not missing it when i eat these so i figure why add the calories if they taste fine without...i would add it to the mix and let it melt in before putting it in the tort.

nommy nommy ENJOY!

#3 chard pesto lasagna with zucchini and peppers

Chard pesto lasagna with zucchini and peppers :

i made this lasagna for my husband who can not have tomato based foods. i love all things pasta and missed making lasagna. i figured why not give pesto a whirl. turned out pretty good! i did add some marinara to each layer on half but honestly i enjoyed it better without. the pesto was pretty tasty and i have a decent amount left over for another pasta dish later this week.

1 zucchini

1 large carrot

3 or 4 sweet peppers or 1 large red bell pepper

1 package whole wheat lasagna noodles

1 small container of ricotta cheese

2 cups mozzarella cheese

1 egg

a few leaves of chopped chard

olive oil

(pesto recipe)

1 large bunch of chard

a few sprigs of basil

1 cup almonds or walnuts

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

1/4 cup Gorgonzola

3 cloves garlic

olive oil and lemon juice

*start by combining all pesto ingredients in a food processor or blender. alternate streaming in olive oil and little dashes of lemon juice until desired constancy(creamy paste) more olive oil than lemon juice ( i taste as i go to make sure i have not gone overboard) set aside

* slice zucchini length wise into thin strips a quarter of an inch thick and peppers into strips. brush with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. put in oven on 400 until just tender.

*cook pasta according to package direction, drain and set aside

*mix ricotta and egg in a bowl, add salt and pepper to taste

*shred carrot

*to build lasagna spread some pesto on bottom of a 9x13 pan. lay down first layer of noodles.

-spread more pesto on noodles and some of cheese mixture, half the shredded carrot then sprinkle some of the motz. cheese on top.

-next instead of noodles, layer the zucchini then spread more pesto, cheese mix, 1/2 chopped chard ,the peppers and the rest of the shredded carrots.

-one more layer of noodles, more pesto, remaining cheese mix, remaining chard and shredded motz.

bake at 350 for 30-45 min or bubbly and golden brown on top.

recipe #2 (what to do with all that leftover matzo)

ok, so i don't get matzo in my produce delivery but I thought i would add this recipe in case you got some extra from passover....and this recipe DOES NOT taste like cardboard. just sayin

Recipe #2

praline, chocolate and marshmallow matzo

oven 350

5 pieces matzo

bag chocolate chips

bag mini marshmallow

1 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup plus an extra teaspoon butter

dash of salt

*melt butter and brown sugar in sauce pan with a dash or two of salt

*line baking sheet with matzo and smear the melted sugar mixture on top, bake for 5 minutes

*remove and evenly sprinkle top with chocolate chips

* put desired amount of marshmallows on top of chocolate chips, place back in oven for 5-10 minutes or until chocolate is melted

*place on rack to cool and break into pieces like brittle..

IT'S SOOOO YUMMY you will not care that you are still eating matzo even after passover has already ended!

#`1 carrot and parsnip soup

Delivery List

Carrots

Chard

Sweet Potatoes

Corn

Asparagus

Parsnips

PackhamPears

Fuji Apples

Zucchini

mango

Recipe #1

Carrot and Parsnip soup

4 or so cups carrots and parsnips

1 sweet potato

1 whole yellow onion

3 cloves garlic chopped

1 box veggie stock

half cup almond milk

teaspoon dried rosemary

dash of dried thyme

salt and pepper to taste

dash of red wine vinegar

*chop onion and garlic and saute with some butter and olive oil in a heavy pot or dutch oven until translucent

*next add stock. chopped carrots , parsnips, sweet potato, rosemary and thyme to pot and bring to boil. cook veggies until tender.

*In small batches add veggies and stock to a food processor or blender and blend until smooth.(careful blending...I normally add as little stock as I can when blending to avoid splatter and getting burned)

*Add all the blended contents back to pot and add almond milk. Bring soup to a simmer for 20 minutes or so. If the soup is too thick add more veggie stock until desired thickness. salt and pepper to taste .

It can be a little sweet so I added a dash of red wine vinegar to my pot to cut the sweet a little.

Hope you like it..We did!

Plan B

So I started this blog in an attempt to save money by not eating out for a whole year...needless to say I BIG FAT FAILED. well, actually we had our third child and I soon realized there was no way I could cook three meals a day on the new sleep deprivation I am finally growing a custom to...blah blah..but I say that while we did manage to stop eating out, we did save a LOAD of money and I often find myself toying with the idea once again... mind you on a much smaller, less inane scale.

So here I am again, but this time I got something new up my sleeve...About 4 or 5 months ago we signed up for a bi-weekly produce delivery. The deal is that I get an email on Friday of the goods that I am gonna get and they are deliver right to my door on Tuesday morning....now is the part where i pause for a moment and sing praises to PALMETTO ORGANICS. If you live in Jax and eat organic produce and don't use these guys then you are nuts. plain and simple...ok, so here I am with all these veggies, some of which I have never seen nor heard of in my life and I gotta cook em or we have just wasted hard earned money and that is not something I am in to..money wasting. So I have some friends that use this service and even blog about what they cook so I figured I could do the same. I will post my bi-weekly list of produce and then the recipes I make to use the stuff up...can't promise it will all be amazing and wonderful and your new favorite thing to eat, but I am sure gonna try!

save money but break a washing machine?

so, like any day at the ott house there is mountain of laundry to tend to...so like any day at the ott house, i wake up and toss in a load. now the only difference with this day and the others is that i had 2 extra kids...making my normal routine a little, we will just say more interesting.so bright and early i realize my desk top is not working ( this of course happens the day after i sell my laptop, of course) gerrrr....an hour or so later i hear a shouting from the bathroom..." the toilet looks funny" what??? " the water is all gone, it looks funny" ok, so now the already sketchy, 25 year old, 3 different shakes of pink toilet, that all 4 children will be using all day is broken. no problem. we can survive a broken toilet...i just hope no one needs to go at the same time. (i would so send them out to the back yard to find a tree to pee on if they were all boys..(does that make me super red neck..i hope not) ok, so we survive the broken toilet for the whole day...yay!! but then netflix breaks....well the Internet goes down and we have the streaming disc for the wii....and no cable of course because after all we are trying to save money where ever we can, right?....so now they are mad because all they want to do is hear david bowie sing the "power of the babe" in the labyrinth..(who blame em though) but of course it won't work now either....yay!! so i promise a sprinkler and pop ice...only to have the sky fall out moments later...complete with thunder and lightening...and it last allllllll dayyyyyy longgggg.

by the time the extra kids dad comes to pick them up, i am ready to lose my crap. it has just been "one of those days". dave has a meeting this particular night until about 9:30 so it's just me and the girls, left to ride it out. it then occurs to me that i forgotten the laundry from the morning.....so i go out to the garage basket in hand and as i approach the washing machine i notice that the rug i keep in front of it is soaking wet. not good! so i take the load out and put another in to see where this water could be coming from. seems it was leaking from under the machine...CRAP. and dave is not home...so of course i call him, freaking out, because "we have two kids and he changes clothes 3 times a day and i have about 2 shirts that will stretch over my ever growing stomach....I HAVE TO BE ABLE TO CLEAN OUR CLOTHES!!" oh and there is that whole, we don't have any freaking money to fix any more crap that breaks, thing.... so when he finally gets home to look at it, i am at the kitchen table crying...because i am pregnant and stressed and thats what i do....and all that i can think of that will make it all better is sushi, or a nasty steak and shake burger or donuts....of course i can have none of these...instead i had eaten chicken that i had managed to burn for dinner with a jar of spaghetti sauce poured on top...YUM, dont' be jealous now! anywho, so i am crying and i call my mom because that always seems to make it a little better.....so i explain the busted machine (which by the way is only like a year and a half old) and she says, "did you look to see if something is clogging it up where the soap goes"(because she is the smartest person alive, really she is) and dave says "that's a good idea".....flash forward 20 minutes later and tada..... THE FREAKING HOMEMADE, MONEY SAVING DETERGENT WAS THE PROBLEM......the bar of soap that you grate and add seems to not have been dissolving....so much for saving us butt tons on laundry detergent...i almost cost us a butt ton on repairs...good one kat! (i will now give audra credit for wanting to make the liquid kind, but i protested sighting that the powder would be easier...the liquid is mixed in a 5 gallon bucket and lets just say i have a tendency to spill things, break things, cut and burn myself while cooking and so on..you don't get a nick name like hazard by doing nothing)
so maybe the liquid would not cause the problems that the powdered caused....not sure if dave would even let me try it at this point.
i am just beyond annoyed that in my latest great effort to save the family money, it failed....no eating out, no cable, cutting corner everywhere we can and i am still discouraged.....when will all of these efforts pay off? cause for now, i am not seeing a difference....and i am getting tired........ .... did i mention we go to messianic synagogue...we read a bible portion for each day, we get a little piece of paper that tells us what to read for that day...so a portion of the old and new testament...when i got in bed last night to read, i saw that we are staring job....i laugh out loud at this now because it is too perfect...not just me...but any one keeping up with their portion would be reading job now. can you think of a better biblical example of trials and tribulation...and not just me, but everyone it seems is having a pretty rough time right now too...but are we having a "job" of a time...i pray we don't end up there...i pray that through all of these test, that the Lord does not allow it to go as far as it did with job( i am always thankful for my situation when i read this book of the bible!)....we are all gonna have trials, we will all suffer and struggle....i just pray i can always stay thankful for the blessings i still see everyday...even when the toilet, t.v, computer and washing machine break in one day...when i burn the chicken and have 4 kids screaming at me at one time...when i sit around waiting on magic sushi to find it's way to my door step..and it never does.. i still want to be able to tell the lord thank you for just getting me through another day. and i would also like to apologize to him for all the complaining i do about my washer being in the hot garage...cause had it been in house yesterday, i would had one big freakin mess to clean up....but as it stands, all that water ended up on 100 degree concrete, drying up on its own in a matter of hours..THANK THE LORD FOR THAT!!

the conviction..it grows

so like i have said earlier, i know there is more to this whole thing than just not eating out. i know God has some bigger plan in action for us. and it seems with each passing day, my conviction to do better and save more grows......and then i argue with God, i'm all " really, God you want me to do more than not eat out and sell all of our junk.....there is nothing else i can do sir" and then He of course reveals to me yet another thing i "could" do if i would just do it. i

also am becoming more aware of how i can not spend an entire year just whining about how i don't get to eat out and how much it pisses me off. so, i have decided to share the other "things" God is showing me i can do and maybe they can help other people who are in the same boat as us.

so my good friend saundra started making her laundry detergent forever ago. and although i knew i was cheaper and not that hard, i was still too lazy to give a whirl. it was just way easier to drop a bottle of 7th generation in my cart and be on my way. (and for those of you who buy 7th generation anything, you know it's not cheap) so i mention this to my very frugal friend audra..... and well, before i knew what had happened audra had the recipe and had called all over jacksonville looking for and buying what we need to get started. so, last night audra and i got busy making homemade laundry soap, fabric softener and dish soap. it seriously was so easy and pretty fun. now lets do some math:

7th generation detergent= around $11 for 32 loads (if you are lucky)

home made=around $8 for 80+ loads

so 11x3=$33 vs. $8

$8 wins!!

so here is a recipe for the powder detergent. i did laundry today and was pretty pleased with the results:

2 cups borax

2 cups washing soda

and i bar of soap, grated.

mix and store in whatever container you want ( we used glass canning jars)

use 2 table spoons a load

for the fabric softener you just mix one cup baking soda and one cup water. after dissolved add 6 cups white vinegar slowly...after fizz dies down add 6 cups more water and then 10 to 15 drops of any essential oil you please...and tada!!!

by the way all of the things you need to make these items can be bought at publix in the laundry isle.

a month..no cheating

so it's been a little over a month and i am not gonna lie...THIS SUCKS!!! i will begin working on my bad attitude when i am less hungry for crap i should not eat in the first place. who knew not eating out for just one month would be so freakin hard. maybe it is because i am the one that cooks EVERY meal we eat. add up three meals a day for 365 days....crap, that's a lot of cooking...plus i am pregnant. every day i am more and more pregnant and i want to do less and less cooking.....not to mention the cankles i have by the end of the day. the last thing i want to do is stand in my overly hot kitchen, cooking on my 25 year stove with an old, stupid timer that randomly buzzes at me, forcing me to have no other choice but to attack it with a set of metal tongs to make it shut up...only to have the buzzing noise worsen..causing my very frustrated husband to have to disassemble the timer to make it stop. did i mention that in my rage i managed to nearly shatter the glass front of said timer...and from time to time, for no good reason, IT STILL FREAKING STARTS BUZZING AND WON'T STOP!!!! ok, needed to get that out.

so one month down and 11 more to go. i do need to mention that my sweet mom did order us some chinese last week. i would feel like a fraud if i left that out...but we did not buy it ourselves, so it does not count! i could not get off my couch and she felt bad enough for me that she got us dinner. i love my mom. i was soooooooooo excited. i feared the chinese delivery man might think we had died ,considering we normally called them once a week ( i would hate to cause them worry :) but sadly when we got it, it was not that great. all that anticipation and then i was a little let down. so maybe there i something to be said for good ol home cooked meals. it's cheaper, healthier, and normally taste better than anything you could eat out.(see already started working on that bad attitude) unless of course no one in you house is a very good cook...but hey, it could force you learn. if only dave would get on that boat. i am a little worried how we will eat once the baby comes. i might starve if i count on dave to feed me the first few weeks home from the hospital. i think i will make a rule that you can only come to see the baby if you have food in hand. don't care if you made it or picked it up on the way..but it best hot and tasty, OR NO BABY FOR YOU!!!!!

official rules of the year without eating out:

1. no eating out period!

2. no buying a cup of coffee, tea, chocolate milk ect. while out.

3. if someone kindly offers to take us out to dinner i will not decline...did not say i would not step foot in restaurant, just not gonna use our own money to pay for it.

and that's it...those are the rules, plain and simple. on your mark, get set, go!