Monster Food

Traditional Tuesdays
Whole wheat pasta, eggplant and green beans chopped small in my Vitamix, garlic, salt, and fresh basil, oregano and thyme. I told Chili this was Monster food, and that monsters like it because it has lots of vitamins to make them strong and healthy ;) She ate it all!
Check out more Traditional Tuesdays recipes here

A Good Anytime Meal: Potatoes with veggies

Traditional Tuesdays Chili likes a little smile to start off the day. She thinks everything is better with ketchup :)

This is a common breakfast meal (and sometimes my lunch if there's leftovers). The ingredients are pretty basic, you might have most of them in your fridge, and if you don't, be creative! You can't go wrong with potatoes. Onion, carrot, yellow pepper, and yellow squash blended small in a blender or food processor, or simply cut up. I find that if they are smaller they are less noticable to fussy eaters. It seems more like a sauce, and less like veggies. Some oil, some garlic, and salt and sometimes cumin, and of course potatoes, that I cut pretty small(I add a little cayenne or fresh ground black pepper to mine, but Chili won't eat that, sounds ironic, doesn't it). I added a bit of water to clean the blender and added that to the pan. I have found that it sticks less on my stainless steel pans if I use a little liquid. Cover and cook until done, stirring and testing throughout the cooking. It's done when the fork goes into the potato easily (but you probably already knew that, right :) Switch out one of the ingredients for an instant variation, or swap a spice for a different flavor. Last time I added a little piece of fresh oregano from the garden. Easy, delicious, and healthy!

See more great recipes at Traditional Tuesday blog carnival.

Beef and Brocoli with Chinese Vinegrette

This recipe was so delicious and relatively simple (as far as cooking from scratch goes). Roast from the crock pot(shredded), carrots and onion grated in my blender, fresh garlic, grated ginger, and brocoli. Cook onion, garlic, carrots, and brocoli, and ginger until done. As far as seasonings go I added salt, red pepper flakes, a little sesame oil, and rice vinegar, and a pinch of sugar. (I didn't put the vinegar or oil on until the end.) I served it over brown Jasmin rice, and yum! We will DEFINATELY be having this again.

Eggrolls

1 lb ground beef

1/2 shredded cabbage

onion

garlic

shredded carrot

ginger

mung bean sprouts(optional)

Put in pan, ground beef and onion first, then carrot, ginger, and cabbage and sprouts towards the end so they are only partially cooked. Put mix in egg roll wrappers. Fry in sesame oil. Yum!

Chocolate Bean Cake

3 eggs

1/2 c sucanat (or sugar)

1/3 c butter (I used coconut oil instead, I'm sure canola or even olive oil would work too)

3 T cacao powder (or cocoa powder)

1 tsp baking powder

a little salt

1 1/2 c cooked garbanzo, White Northern, or black beans

or 1 can (make sure to rinse and drain them)

put ingredients in food processor or Vitamix blender (wet ingredients on the bottom if you are doing it in the Vitamix), blend until smooth, grease pan, I put it in on 350 for 35 minutes in what I think is an 8 X 8 inch glass pan, top with powdered sugar

It was good. It didn't taste like beans. It has a slightly different texture than if you would have used flour, but I didn't dislike it, just different. It reminded me of brownies.

Fermented Ginger Carrots

My first experience with fermented veggies. And YUM, I will be making these again, as well as trying out some other kinds of ferments.

I used:

2 c of grated carrots, tightly packed

1/2 T of freshly grated ginger

1 T sea salt

Mix all ingredients, and press or pound to release the juices. Put in a mason jar, and press until the juices cover the carrots. Leave at least an inch at the top of the jar. Cover tightly, and leave at room temp for about 3 days. Then put in cold storage or the top shelf of the fridge. I have especially liked eating them with black beans and eggs. They have greatly improved my digestion of beans ;)

Coconut Hot Chocolate

Growing up, I thought all hot chocolate was made with water. Later, I discovered how delicious and creamy it is with whole milk and never went back. Not being able to eat dairy, I needed to make some adjustments to find a hot chocolate that I was going to like.

Here's what I did:

1 can coconut milk (not light)
1 can water
1 circle (pastilla) of Mexican hot chocolate (I used Ibarra this time, I usually buy that one or Abuelita)
a little cornstarch (maybe a tablespoon, remember to dissolve in cold water first, then add)

Add coconut milk, water and the chocolate. Warm over medium heat, stirring frequently to dissolve chocolate. When warm add your mix of corn starch dissolved into cold water. Boil a few minutes til it thickens. Enjoy!

Not so Holla-daisy Sauce

Not eating dairy can limit your cream sauce options. I really like hollandaise sauce, but after reading how to make that, knew I was out of luck - lots of butter is required. So I decided to attempt a dairy-free hollandaise sauce. First, I just thought I would replace the butter with oil, but I never got it to thicken up that way, but a little bit of cornstarch did the trick. So, without further ado, here's my recipe...

Not so Holla-daisy Sauce

3 egg yolks

salt

6 T oil

1 t lemon juice

pinch cayenne

a little dry mustard (maybe a teaspoon)

garlic powder

some cornstarch (maybe a Tablespoon)

Put egg yolks, 2 T water, and a pinch of salt in a small saucepan on very low heat. Whisk constantly until slightly thickened 3-5 minutes (don't let it curdle).

Remove from heat and stir in the oil a tablespoon or two at a time. This is the part where the hollandaise is supposed to thicken. Mine didn't. I assume because I didn't use butter. So I added a little cornstarch (put the cornstarch in a little cup with a tiny bit of water and stir until dissolved, then add it). You have to let the cornstarch boil or it won't thicken, but I whisked it the whole time, just in case the eggs wanted to do funny things. Then I added the mustard powder, lemon, cayenne, garlic powder, etc until it tasted good!

We served it over shrimp, with asparagus, and bread spread with coconut oil. The white thing is the leftover egg white, cooked flat, and rolled.

Gingerbread Disaster aka Poop Cookies

As the title suggests, these came out crappy! ;) So much for our first time making Xmas gingerbread men. But we had a good time laughing about them. Yes, I did say in front of my 3 year old that they looked like poop, which led to her saying things like, "I like poop." (She actually did like the cookies.) and "Papi, you want eat poop, papi?" as she offered him a cookie. I know, I know, moms aren't supposed to let their kids say stuff like that, and I may regret it later, but I couldn't help it! I mean look at them! These cookies really stink!

Here We Come A Wassailing...

Time to start some merry-making! Last week we set up our tree (and then re-set up our tree, first time with a real tree, who knew they needed water?! Had to take it back down, cut off a piece, put water, and put it back up :) Chili really got a kick out of that! This weekend we made Wassail! I had never had it before, but the ingredients sounded good, and it sounded like a holiday-ish thing to do, so we gave it a try! Here's what we did...

Wassail
1 3/4 c sugar (original recipe called for 2 1/4 c but it called for lemon juice, and I was using lemonaide, so I reduced, I thought it was a bit too sweet, so next time will use less)
4 cups water
2 cinnamon sticks
2 slices fresh ginger root
10 allspice berries
1 T whole cloves
4 c orange juice
2 c lemonaide (see above)
8 c apple juice

Original directions said to combine sugar and water and boil 5 minutes(I added the cinnamon in before boiling too, I figured they would let out more flavor that way). Then remove from heat and add spices...it didn't mention what to do with the juice, so I added that in after the boiling too. I tried it and thought it tasted a little too orange juicy, and couldn't taste much of the spices, so I left it covered and simmering for awhile and really liked the result! Yum, tastes like the holidays!

Coconut Bread/Cake

Made this as a birthday cake for hubby a couple weeks ago. It was very filling. I later read that is because coconut has a lot of fiber. We decided to drizzle more honey on top as it was not as sweet as we would have liked for a cake, but if you are looking for a bread, if would be fine.

6 eggs
1/2 c of oil (or melted butter if you are eating dairy)
2 T honey
1/2 t salt
1 t baking powder
3/4 c coconut flour*

Whisk eggs, add oil, honey, salt, baking powder and whisk together.
Add flour and stir until lumps are gone.
Cook on 350 for 40 minutes.
I covered it with a little honey and sprinkled coconut to make it look nice.
Store in fridge. (If there's any left.)

*Coconut flour is not a grain. It's made from the fiber left over from making coconut milk or coconut oil. There's not many vitamins in it, but it can be used by people with other grain allergies or diabetes.

Crustless Pumpkin Pie

Happy Thanksgiving! Here is what I made this year:

Crustless Pumpkin Pie

1 can(15 oz) pumpkin puree
3/4 c sucanat (or white sugar if you prefer)
3/8 c all purpose flour
1/2 c coconut milk (or whole milk if you do dairy)
3 eggs
6 T oil (or melted butter)
cinnamon
pumpkin pie spice

Blend and pour into pie pan. Bake at 350 for 60 minutes.

Easier to not have to make a crust, and I don't enjoy the crust much on pumpkin pie anyway. This was so fast and easy I will be making it again soon. Sorry, I was going to take a picture, but most of it is gone already.

The "Un-Cheese"

Looking for dairy/soy free recipes today, I come across a recipe for a fake mozzarella (or so it said). I had all the ingredients, so I decided to try it. It was pretty good, but it was not remotely like cheese. More like dip. Would be good spicy too for a Mexican dish.

1 c cashews
1/4 c pine nuts
1/4 c lemon juice
salt
1/2 c water
italian seasoning (I added this in)

Put all ingredients in a blender or food processor. Blend until smooth.

Chicken Pot Pie - Gone Latino

The other night, I tried something new that I had read about. It's basically a chicken pot pie, but I found it much easier to make. I cooked a chicken the day before in the slow cooker, deboned it and broke it into pieces. I stored that in the fridge all ready to go for the next day, and started some black beans soaking with a little vinegar. I saved the broth, and in the morning I put them in the slow cooker. In the evening, I put some carrots, celery, and zuchini into the food processor. Then saute these veggies with some onion, garlic, cumin, salt, chili powder, oregano or whatever seasonings you want. Add some frozen corn in too.
Now grease the pan, and put the chicken pieces on the bottom, then a bunch of black beans without the cooking water, and put the veggies on top.
Finally, you make the crust to put on top. Use:
1/2 c flour and 1/2 c masa harina
1 T sucanat/brown sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
1/4 c of whatever oil you like to use (if butter or coconut, melt)
1 T vinegar plus unsweetened almond milk/rice milk to make a cup (or buttermilk instead)
Mix together the wet ingredients, mix together the dry ingredients, pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until smooth. Pour over the top and bake at 375 until browned.

"Sloppy Joes" - Gone Latino

Ground beef, potato (shredded, cubed, however you want), green pepper, tomato, and seasonings (garlic, onion, chili powder, cumin, salt). Cook it up and serve on tostadas and top with tomato, cilantro, and maybe some cheese.

Chocolate Avocado Pudding

Who would have guessed that avocadoes make some mean pudding...and dairy free, which my baby is happy about.

1 avocado
a little honey
1 tsp vanilla
sprinkle a little cocoa powder
1/8 cup water or until you reach the right consistency for pudding

blend really well in the blender

Oh, yum! And I feel like I'm getting some nutrition in too! And no, I doesn't taste like avocado.

Grilled Chicken Tacos

I just made these last night for the first time, and will definately be making them again!

Use whatever kind of chicken you want, I use shredded chicken from a whole chicken, but the original recipe called for breasts, or you could use a store bought rotisserie chicken if you were in a hurry, so whatever you like. Fry for 3 minutes(on one side) in a little oil with the following seasonings:
2 T chili powder
2 t ground cinnamon
2 t cumin
2 t sucanat or brown sugar
2 t salt
1/2 t black pepper
It will become slightly crispy or blackened.
I served this up with curtido (here is a basic recipe http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/recs/495/Curtido_Salvadoreno_El_Salvador48777.shtml) I do it pretty much like that, but I don't blanch it first. It is better the second day, so if you can prepare it the day before, even better.
I also served it with grilled poblano peppers(blacken on gas stove, or on the grill, and then put in a plastic bag or covered container for a few minutes, then peel and remove seeds, and cut up. Warning: sometimes these are spicer than others. I peeled and deseeded with my fingers and a knife, but they weren't too spicy. Sometimes this can be a dangerous move, if they are spicy and you touch the seeds, please do not touch your eyes, etc. as it may hurt, even if you have washed your hands several times :)
We also put some avocado on it, and of course served it on tortillas! I was initially skeptical about the cinnamon, but it was good! I ran out of chicken today, and ate the remaining poblanos in a quesadilla with curtido, and that was good too!

Meat-crust Pizza

The bottom is like a big meatball, squished flat. I think I used a pound of ground beef, 1/3 c bread crumbs, 2 cloves of garlic, some fresh basil chopped up, and just a tad of water for the "crust." Covered it in tomato sauce, cheese and put some mushrooms that I had sauted with onion, some fresh tomatoes, and zuchini on top. Baked in a glass casserole dish at 400 for maybe 30 minutes. I used 85% beef, but wished I had used leaner beef. Oh, it was so good! Hope you like it too.

Apple Crisp

Can you believe I have never made apple crisp before? It's so easy!

6 cups apples (peeled, cored, and sliced)

1 t. cinnamon

2/3 c brown sugar

5 T butter, cut into bits

1/2 c rolled oats (not instant)

1/2 c all purpose flour

butter pan, put into cut up apples

put other ingredients together in food processor, or mix well with fingers or a fork

Bake 30-40 minutes at 400 degrees

Mine seemed a little sweet, I think next time I'll put more apples. But definately yum, and the house smells great too!

Bread Pudding

This is our current favorite afternoon recipe. So easy! This is the first recipe Chili can actually help with...most times her help does more damage than good :) She is pretty good at ripping bread apart though. Let the ripping begin!

Not all of it goes in the pan though...

Yum!

Beating eggs.

Now doesn't that look good!

Did I mention Papi loves this?

Here's the recipe, this is doubled from the original(so you could cut it in half):

16 slices of whole wheat bread

6 c of milk

6 eggs

1 stick of butter, melted

1/2 c sugar, plus more to sprinkle on top

a little salt (if you want, I used salted butter, so I left that out)

cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves if you want

raisins

sliced bananas

Grease pan, put in ripped up pieces of bread. Beat eggs together, add spices and milk and stir. Pour mixture over bread pieces. Make sure all bread gets wet. Add butter and raisins. Sprinkle sugar on top. Slice bananas and place on top. Bake in oven on 350 for at least one hour, maybe more. It will get harder as it cools. Enjoy hot or cold!