Fresh dill: will I ever use it all?

Occasionally, I will purchase fresh dill at the supermarket for a recipe, which always leaves me with a whole bunch of unassigned fresh dill that taunts me from the refrigerator until it goes bad. The same happens, but in smaller quantities, with the bunches of fresh dill from the Henry's Farm CSA box.

I feel a great sense of relief when I discover something else that I like to make with fresh dill. Admittedly, it is not one of my favorite herbs. That's why it lingers in the fridge and taunts me. "Ha, ha ha ha haa, you only have one dish using me that you'd be willing to eat this week!" Relief this week came in two forms: one, a different dish using dill; and two, other people to share the dish so the dill would finally run out.

Here's my breakfast from Wednesday:

A slice of whole-wheat toast, topped with asparagus and scrambled eggs with fresh dill.
Saute the asparagus in olive oil mixed with a little butter, scramble up the eggs with milk and add those to the pan, and then sprinkle on fresh chopped dill, salt and pepper when the eggs start to set. 

Andrew's parents were visiting this week, and after seeing my breakfast, his mom decided she had to get in on this dill-on-eggs idea, so she added it to her over-easy eggs the next day. I threw a little dill in with the fennel greens on our pasta Thursday, and Andrew and I had the rest of the dill on Saturday's breakfast omelet that also included orange bell pepper and a little cheddar cheese.

The main problem with me and dill is that a little dill goes a long way. Its flavor is a bit intense and distinctive, so I really have to want to taste dill wherever it appears. I don't make pickles or use vinegar much anymore, so there goes one potential use of massive quantities of dill. Having this simple little breakthrough in my dill mental block could open up other ideas about dill. Perhaps my homemade kefir salad dressing could use a bit of dill blended into it next time. I know it's tasty sprinkled on fish, but how about making green garlic sauce for fish with some dill instead of only parsley? Hey, I'm on a roll here, and if any of these ideas happen, I'll tell you about how they worked.

Read more...

Bunny Buns

I'm on attempt #3 to make the perfect sweet bun to stuff with marzipan, shape like a bunny and serve up at the local Shire of Baile na Scolairi event at the end of the month.

The concept: make bunny-shaped buns and display a few of them on a platter at lunch with some piles of raisins, making it look like "the rabbit's revenge" on lunch is some rabbit droppings left behind as the bunnies hopped around the plate. The buns have to taste good, though, because those bunnies not on display will be served up as food.

I've finally arrived at a bread recipe I'm happy with, so I'm ready to share that here.

Advantages of this recipe:
1. sweet, but not as sweet as the marzipan, so there is some contrast
2. tastes great (not dry or stale) as day-old bread, which it will be on the day of the event
3. easy to shape
4. variable for multiple purposes -- I may end up using this recipe some other time with other stuffings or with dried fruits or other spices in the dough.
5. one recipe makes more than 12 buns -- good, because I have to make at least 50
6. does not require me to buy milk -- great because we didn't have any at home yesterday

Bunny Buns
makes about 20 small buns

1/2 cup lukewarm water
1 package active dry yeast
1 tsp granulated sugar
1 cup lukewarm water
1 egg
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup whole-wheat flour
prepared marzipan (preferably a brand with sugar as the only sweetener)

Proof the yeast: pour water into a large bowl, sprinkle on yeast and 1 tsp sugar. Let stand until foamy, about 10 minutes.

Mix in the remaining water, the egg, 1/2 cup sugar, oil, salt, cinnamon. Whisk in 1 cup all-purpose flour, then 1 cup whole-wheat flour. Use spoon to mix in the remaining all-purpose flour. Knead with well-floured hands until well combined. Dough should be soft and pillowy and a little sticky.

Clean out bowl with soap and hot water and coat with vegetable oil. Return dough to bowl, turning to cover dough with grease. Cover with plastic wrap or thin towel and leave in a warm place until doubled in size. (see note below)

Punch dough down and knead with floured hands for 1 to 2 minutes. Divide into 20 portions of equal size. Place a small ball of marzipan on each portion, wrap the dough around it, and roll dough between hands into a round ball. Shape the balls into teardrops, leaving the marzipan in the fat end of the teardrop. Place on greased baking sheet or baking sheet covered in parchment paper. Let rise, covered by thin towel, for about 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and brush dough with egg wash (see note below). Use scissors to cut long rabbit ears near the narrow end of the teardrop of dough. Bake buns for 15 to 20 minutes, until they are golden brown and sound hollow when the bottom is tapped. Be careful not to burn the tips of the ears too much. Cool on a wire rack. 

Note on rising: if the weather is chilly, bread dough does not rise quickly. Try one of these tricks:
1. Place covered bowl of dough in a closed oven with just the light on
2. for winter days only: turn the oven on to the lowest possible temperature for five minutes. Turn off and then let the bread dough rise in the oven with the door closed.
3. Boil water in a pan slightly smaller in diameter than your mixing bowl. Remove the pan from the heat and put the covered bowl on top of the pan.
4. Boil a cup of water in the microwave oven. Remove cup, place covered bowl with dough in it inside the microwave and let the dough rise with the door closed. Don't microwave the dough, it gets too hot and will kill the yeast.

Note on egg wash: egg wash is one egg beaten well with a little water. Use a pastry brush to brush the wash on the dough. It adds a pleasant sheen to the dough.  Egg wash can be used to help seeds stick to the top of breads (e.g. sesame seeds, poppy seeds, etc.). Some recipes will use a wash made only with egg yolks to add yellow color to the dough, or only with egg whites to prevent yellow color. This site has an interesting table of the different properties of different egg wash recipes: http://www.piemaven.com/egg_wash.html

Read more...

Another try at breakfast strata

It's been quite a while since I toyed with the breakfast casserole strata in the kitchen. In the last documented attempt, the strata was really subpar.

In the new version, it's still two layers of bread with a filling of sausage and vegetables in between, all held together by an egg mixture and baked till the bread starts to toast.
The differences:
1. no turmeric
2. this time, I had the mustard I wanted
3. different sausage
4. different spices
5. cheese topping

"Let's try this again" leftovers-for-breakfast strata
 serves at least 4
4 large eggs
1 cup milk (I used almond milk)
1 tsp dried sage leaves, crushed (4 to 5 leaves)
1/2 cup chopped parsley (loosely in the measuring cup, not packed)
1 orange bell pepper, chopped finely
2 leftover bratwurst-sized sausages, sliced (I had chicken-apple sausage)
1 tsp dijon mustard
1 tsp salt
3 Tbsp butter
6 to 8 slices dry bread
1 cup shredded cheddar

Oil 8x8 baking pan. Lay 3 to 4 slices of bread down to cover the bottom of the pan. Saute chopped pepper and sausage together in butter. When heated through, add parsley and sage. Spread veg/meat mixture on top of bread in baking pan. Cover with half of shredded cheese and top with 3 to 4 slices of bread to cover evenly. Whisk eggs with milk, mustard and salt. Pour over contents of pan, soak at least 1 hour (can soak overnight if desired to bake at breakfast time). Top with the rest of the shredded cheese and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for approximately 30 minutes or until eggs are set and top layer of bread is toasted.
This dish is great fresh out of the oven, but do let it sit 10 minutes before cutting into portions. This time, I made the dish the night before I wished to eat it and cut portions to reheat in the microwave for a couple of breakfasts for me and Andrew.

I'm getting more daring with the use of eggs and cheese as my sometimes-touchy guts will allow. I'll have to admit that this time, I still didn't get things quite right and the strata was once again not a Heather-friendly dish. I suspect there was something about the chicken-apple sausage that I wasn't digesting well because not only the leftovers affected me, but also the serving of sausage with lunch on an earlier day. Maybe I could have skipped the cheese topping, too.

Well, this dish was fun until it suddenly wasn't fun anymore. The flavor was much improved over the last strata, and I was glad to have a way to use up leftovers of chicken sausage and parsley.

Read more...

Mmm, breakfast dishes

A co-worker of mine declared yesterday that the only meal he cooks with any consistency is breakfast, "because it's easy."

Yup, he's so right. Breakfast foods are so easy, they are all I have left in me. I have spent a bit more than a month not feeling like cooking anything at home because I've been slowly getting over some major back, hip and leg pain due to a bulging spinal disc. I can make it through work okay now (just constant discomfort, not real serious pain any more), but all the way through this healing process, the last thing I want to do after exhausting myself cooking at work is to come home and stand up for another hour to cook. Thankful every day for having a husband who is a capable cook, so we are still getting consistent hot meals with fresh foods.

But I'm still making breakfast for myself on my day off. Or breakfasts for guests we've had over on several weekends in October and November. French toast, fried eggs on toast, a bit of oatmeal, whatever goes well with coffee or tea and people's moods.

Today's breakfast, eggs over-easy on English muffins and a lettuce salad. Last weekend, Scottish oats cooked into a nice, thick cereal and served with butter and honey.

However, since I have not made any new amazing discoveries in the realm of breakfast, I've been on hiatus from this blog for a long while. Today, I'm back to offer my take on French toast, a long-time breakfast specialty of mine.

French toast
serves two people at least two slices

2 eggs
about 1/3 cup almond milk
4 to 5 slices of day-old bread 
one dash of whichever you are in the mood for today: powdered ginger, cinnamon powder, ground nutmeg, ground cardamom, perhaps a combination of two of these
canola oil (add one tablespoon of butter if desired)
maple syrup

Note on breads: ordinary American sliced bread in packages often has a better texture if it is lightly toasted first before frying. The most awesome French toast is with French bread that has gotten too hard to eat by itself. But I don't insist on only the best bread. I'm not picky about whether the bread is white or whole wheat or has raisins or seeds in it.

Coat the bottom of a nonstick pan with canola oil and put on medium heat. Add one tablespoon of butter to pan if desired. Whisk together eggs, milk and spices. Add more milk if the mixture is too thick to soak into bread.  Dip pieces of bread into the mixture to fully coat. Fry until golden brown, flip and fry the other side, and serve hot with maple syrup.

If you've been using pancake syrup (which is usually corn syrup with maple flavoring) and have the chance to purchase real maple syrup from maple tree sap, make the switch! Maple syrups from different parts of North America have slight differences in flavor, which is part of the fun. All are less mellow, more maple-y and often thinner than pancake syrup.

Read more...

Scrambling veggies and eggs

The ingredients in today's lunch:
1 small zucchini, sliced thinly
3 Tbsp butter
2 eggs, scrambled with a little milk (I chose unsweetened almond milk, you may choose differently)
salt and pepper strewn over all to taste
1 heaping tbsp each of ajvar and light sour cream, mixed together in a separate bowl

The cooking method: butter melted in pan, zucchini browned on both sides in butter, heat turned down and eggs cooked in pan w/zucchini, seasoned the whole mess and place on a plate, smeared with ajvar/sour cream and served with multigrain bread. This dish is very green and orange, and it's delicious!

Read more...

Spanish Tortilla

This one's not a flat, floppy bread. Tortilla in Spain is a thick, eggy dish fried in a skillet, filled with potatoes and possibly other vegetables and meat. It is reminiscent of an omelette in that it's eggs filled with whatever you think would taste good, but it isn't an egg wrapped around the filling. It is reminiscent of quiche in that it's solid and served in wedges, but it does not have a crust and isn't baked. Tortilla has commonalities with other dishes, but it isn't really exactly like anything else.

To treat my friend Laura yesterday for lunch, I improvised a tortilla, made in the spirit of one that I've made before at work. Not having a photo of the whole thing, I'll describe it in words. My tortilla was a thick, seasoned "cake" of eggs holding together a lot of potatoes and parsley, browned on all sides by the frying pan. Here's how the recipe works:

Spanish Tortilla
serves 6 as main dish, 8 to 12 as tapas dish

7 large eggs
4 medium-sized potatoes, diced
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1 tsp smoked paprika (Spanish pimentón)
seasoned salt to taste (the kind with garlic and spices mixed w/the salt)
fresh-ground pepper to taste
4 Tbsp olive oil

Heat olive oil in a nonstick 10-inch skillet with sloping sides. Fill the bottom of the pan with diced potatoes and fry until golden brown on most sides. While potatoes are cooking, crack the eggs into a bowl and whisk until yolks are fully incorporated. When potatoes are browned, sprinkle with paprika and stir until oil is red. Season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with parsley, then pour over the eggs. Cook over medium heat. When eggs start to set, use a heatproof spatula to pull up edges and lean the pan so egg mixture that is still liquid gets to the edge of the pan. When eggs are fully set and starting to get a bit of a crispy skin on the bottom, put a large plate over the skillet. Flip the pan upside down, depositing the tortilla on the plate. Slide it back into the pan to cook the other side. When the second side also gets a crispy skin, cut the tortilla into 6 wedges and serve hot.

Serve in smaller wedges if you are making the tortilla as a tapa (appetizer to go with drinks). I served the tortilla with a salad for a light lunch. More fillings to go with the potatoes might include chickpeas, Spanish chorizo sausage, greens, cooked mushrooms, cooked garden vegetables, anything that tastes good with eggs and isn't going to give off a bunch of liquid to make the tortilla lose its texture.

I'm told that the tortilla tastes good cold as leftovers, but I'm more excited about eating it hot.

Read more...

Smoothie #6

Today's snack smoothie to take a break from chores. Very orange, a nice mix of sweetness with earthy tones and tanginess.

Smoothie #6
1 mango, peeled, cut in chunks
1 carrot, peeled, cut in chunks
250 mL unsweetened almond milk
250 mL cranberry/pomegranate juice

Put mango and carrot chunks into blender with liquids. Blend until carrot is fully incorporated.

Read more...

Breakfast skillet today

Something easy, warm and comforting for a late breakfast on a day full of chores today. This one is a nice mishmash of leftovers I had in the fridge. The basic recipe is not a really strongly flavored breakfast and could probably use some chili-garlic sauce or fresh herbs or salsa to dress it up.

Veggie breakfast skillet
for one very hungry person or two lighter portions

1/2 cup liquid egg substitute
a splash of milk or soymilk
1 or 2 tsp dijon mustard
1 or 2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp chopped green bell pepper
6 oz fresh mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup leftover cooked rice
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

Whisk together the egg substitute, milk, and mustard in a bowl. In a large skillet, heat the oil and saute the mushrooms and green pepper. When tender, add the cooked rice and cook, stirring, until rice is heated through. Pour the egg mixture over the contents of the skillet and stir occasionally to scramble the eggs. Sprinkle with salt and pepper just before the eggs are done.

Ideas for additional vegetable add-ins: roasted red pepper, leftover cooked broccoli or carrots, onions, tomatoes (at the end of cooking), leftover stir-fried vegetables

Eggs and meat are a classic combination and this breakfast would also be good with bits of leftover sausage, ham, bacon, steak or roast beef or pork. Keeping the same amounts of other ingredients, meat packs enough calories to make this a recipe for two or three servings.

Read more...

Soup for summer: fruit soup

I was inspired 1) by the flavor of mrissa's berry soup that she served for brunch when Andrew and I visited at Thanksgiving time and 2) by the overwhelming sweetness of many of the wines served at the local Mackinaw Valley Vineyard when I visited the winery for a friend's birthday party in May.

I can't recommend any of the Mackinaw wines I tried for drinking because they only came in two varieties: cloyingly sweet and nose-wrinkling sour.

Once I stopped sipping around the Mackinaw wine list for a wine to serve alone or with dinner and started looking for a wine to make fruit soup, I began to find the sweet red wines a lot more interesting. I halted the search with Eric's Red, which had just the right sweet fruitiness with a hint of spice to go with the cherries I'd been saving. Seemed appropriate to use a wine with a Viking ship on the label for a Scandinavian-inspired cold soup.

I recommend serving this dish for brunch or dessert and not serving it to the kids because of the noticeable amounts of alcohol in it. The garnish in the photo is dried strawberry slices I made a few days before.

Eric's Red Tart Cherry Soup
serves 6 to 8

1.5 pounds frozen red tart cherries
3/4 to 1 c sugar (I used vegan demerara sugar)
2 cups water
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 to 1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 Tbsp quick-cooking tapioca (such as Minit)
2 cups Mackinaw Valley Vineyards Eric's Red or other very sweet red wine

Combine all ingredients except wine in a pot, let sit five minutes, then bring to a boil. Cook until sugar dissolves completely. Remove from heat, add wine and puree. If puree is very thick, add more wine. Serve chilled.

Read more...

Smoothie #5

Andrew's latest creation:
1/2 cup frozen blueberries
1 banana in chunks
a couple tablespoons of juice concentrate for sweetener
1/2 cup frozen peach slices
unsweetened soy milk to taste (he likes less for thick smoothies, but I like more milk)

Read more...

Try a different grain for breakfast: bulgur wheat

This dish was my second response to the challenge posed at work by an entire batch of bulgur wheat that I had overcooked. (First response: mixing it with parmesan cheese to make a crust for quiche). It was just a little bit too exploded and sticky for the tabbouleh for which it was intended, but it was still fine to use for something else. If only we had another bulgur wheat recipe...

Bulgur Breakfast Pudding
makes at least 6 one-cup servings, more if served in small ramekins

3 cups cooked bulgur wheat
2/3 cup raisins
1/3 cup dried cherries
1/3 cup craisins
1/3 cup pecan pieces
2 cups whipping cream*
1 3/4 cup whole milk*
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ginger powder
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1 Tbsp flour

* lower-fat options: 2 cups half-and-half and 1 3/4 cup 2 percent milk OR no cream and 3 3/4 cups whole milk, but resulting pudding will not be as thick when hot and won't taste as creamy

Mix all ingredients in large saucepan except the flour. Bring to a simmer SLOWLY over medium-low heat. Stir frequently. When the mixture is hot, add flour by stirring in small amounts with a whisk to avoid lumps. Simmer on low heat until mixture is thick like oatmeal, stirring frequently to avoid scorching the bottom. Spoon into cereal bowls or ramekins. Serve hot or cold. Keeps a shape if chilled in a greased mold.


Note on cream: for best quality and flavor, don't bother with creams that have anything besides dairy products listed on the package. Filler ingredients make both the price and the quality lower.

It's sad that I could never eat this for breakfast myself as the dairy in it would make my guts very unhappy first thing in the morning. I really enjoyed the little tastes I took while creating the recipe.

Although I intended it to be a stand-alone breakfast food, I'm sure a small serving would be a nice addition to a brunch or make an interesting molded dessert.

Read more...

Smoothie #4

Pink and frothy! This smoothie was a "clearing of the decks" of fruits left over in freezer and fridge from previous smoothies. Need to make room for fresh fruits now that spring is here again.

2 to 4 oz frozen strawberries
about 8 oz frozen tart cherries
1 cup kesar mango pulp
1 banana in chunks
unsweetened soy milk
frozen non-citrus juice concentrate, thawed

Place all fruits in 5-cup (1.25L) blender and add 1 to 3 Tbsp juice concentrate to taste. Fill blender the rest of the way with soy milk. Use less soy milk if you like your smoothie extra-thick. Use even less milk to make a spoonable dessert.

Read more...

Smoothie #3

Classic smoothie for my household. Canned mango pulp from the Indian grocery is the best dual-purpose smoothie ingredient. It's a fruit and a sweetener.

1/2 can kesar mango pulp (28 oz can)
6 oz frozen strawberries
1 banana
cold soy milk (My husband and I have differing opinions on how much. He says less for thicker, spoonable smoothies, so start at 1/2 cup. I say more for more easily drinkable smoothies, so add at least 1 cup if not more.)

Place fruits in blender. Add soy milk amount for desired consistency. Blend until smooth.

Read more...

Mmmm, oatmeal.

Nothing too complicated about this one, just simple, tasty, healthy breakfast goodness. Oatmeal is not just for growing kids, and it does not have to taste boring. It's the perfect thing for weekend mornings when we wake up late and don't want lunch yet, but I'm not ambitious enough (or feeling too post-party queasy) to make my usual special brunch item, French toast.

What's in the cupboard? oatmeal for two

heaping 2/3 cup quick oats or old-fashioned oats
2/3 cup water
2/3 cup unsweetened soy milk (use more if oatmeal gets too sticky)
1/4 cup dried apple slices
1/4 cup dried cranberries
2 or 3 Tbsp pecan pieces
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1 or 2 Tbsp maple syrup per portion

Put oats, water and soy milk in 2 qt pot. Add dried fruit and ginger. Heat until simmering, cook at a low bubble until oatmeal is at desired level of tenderness and stickiness, stirring often, adding more milk if desired. Cook time will be longer for old-fashioned oats. When oatmeal is finished, stir in pecan pieces and pour into two bowls. Drizzle each portion with maple syrup to taste.

Read more...

Smoothie #2

1 cup frozen peach slices
1/2 mango, sliced
1/4 cup cherry-apple juice
1 cup unsweetened soy milk

Very orange, naturally sweet, thick and frothy. This smoothie has a soy aftertaste, so would be even better with dairy milk if we kept that around.

Read more...

Today's sandwich: brunch quesadilla

No advance planning here, just throwing together what’s around the house because I didn’t feel like eating leftovers from last night’s dinner. I'm saving the leftovers to take to work. I've always liked bananas and cheese, since I used to eat bananas wrapped in American cheese as a kid.

Here’s a picture before I folded the quesadilla together and cooked it:

Banana Brunch Quesadilla

1 burrito-sized flour tortilla

a couple of spoonfuls of peach jam (whole fruit, homemade and canned this summer)

1/8 cup to ¼ cup shredded cheddar cheese (leftover after making strata recipe below)

1 banana, cut in half crosswise and sliced lengthwise

Spread half the tortilla with peach jam. Cover with shredded cheese. Top with banana slices, as many as will fit on the tortilla, and eat the rest of the banana. Fold the blank tortilla half over the filling. Place in a dry skillet and cook each side until golden brown.

Read more...

A casserole for leftovers: strata

My mom makes a brunch “quiche” that follows the same basic strata technique here: lay out slices of bread, top with the filling, top with the rest of the bread slices, pour an eggy mixture over top and let it sit overnight before baking. Hers is topped with crushed corn flakes that have been mixed with melted butter. I love that crunchy topping, but I didn’t have any corn flakes in the house to add to this experiment with leftovers. Also, the point of this experiment was to make a dish kind of like mom’s quiche that was lower in fat and in meat (the original has ham-and-cheese filling), so no buttery topping.

The experimental recipe

Layers:

8 slices bread (I used oat bran bread I had in the freezer)

1 small onion, diced

1 tsp oil or butter

leftover cooked spicy Italian loose sausage, probably was about ½ of the original pound of sausage

3 dried sage leaves, crushed

6 oz frozen broccoli

8 oz fresh mushrooms, sliced

½ Tbsp olive oil

½ Tbsp butter

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (forget lactose intolerance for a minute -- the cheese was on sale)

Grease an 8X8 baking dish. Cover the bottom with 4 slices of bread. Saute the onion in 1 tsp oil or butter and spread over the bread. Cover with sausage, sprinkle with sage. Cover with broccoli. Saute mushrooms in ½ Tbsp olive oil and ½ Tbsp butter and spread over broccoli. Cover with cheese and the other 4 slices of bread. Press down if the bread is above the top of the pan.

Egg mixture:

1 cup egg whites

a squirt of mustard (I don’t keep ordinary yellow mustard around – the mustards on hand were spicy brown or deli brown, but my usual choice would have been Dijon)

1 cup unsweetened soy milk (a little nod to the lactose intolerance)

½ tsp turmeric

Whisk all together and pour over the strata, soaking all the bread slices.

Cover the baking dish in aluminum foil and refrigerate overnight.

The next morning, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. If, like me, you are baking the strata straight out of the fridge instead of letting it warm up to room temperature, bake covered 25 minutes and uncovered 20 to 25 minutes until bread is browning and filling is bubbly. Let stand five minutes before serving.

Observations

My first thought on eating my first bite was “Whoa! Too much turmeric!” I wasn’t supposed to be able to pick out the turmeric taste so easily. It was supposed to be just for yellow color. That turmeric amount will have to be closer to 1/8 tsp next time. 

“Should I have added salt and pepper to the egg mixture?” I asked myself as I put the baking pan in the fridge before going to bed. When I ate the strata the next day, I found that the sausage and cheese had added enough salty and spicy flavor. I think I would go for some white pepper in the egg mix if I had an all-vegetable filling.

I don’t usually keep whole eggs in the house because the yolks are one of the many items that are not kind to my over-sensitive stomach and guts. I often use the Ener-G powdered egg substitute or substitute two egg whites for each whole egg in a recipe. In general, this dish was not good for me because of the pork sausage, eggs and cheese. Next time, I’d go for an egg substitute instead of any kind of real egg product, and my filling would not be meaty, so that the only tummy-unfriendly item would be the cheese. After this dish and a few egg-white/Egg Beaters omelettes, I’ve learned the lesson that in a dish that is mostly eggy, I just can’t tolerate the eggs. 

The reheated leftovers of this dish were just as good as the fresh-from-the-oven strata lunch.

Read more...

Smoothie #1

1 banana
1 cup each frozen blueberries, frozen peach slices
1 cup unsweetened soy milk
1/4 cup plain soy yogurt
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup apple cider (Schnuck's grocery store brand, with pulp sediment and spices floating in it)
honey to taste
pinch of orange zest

Put all ingredients in a blender and blend till smooth.

Comments: The cider amount could be adjusted to make it less or more free-flowing. My husband likes smoothies thicker than I do. He likes soft-serve ice cream-level thickness, I like to be able to put it in a regular kitchen glass and drink it without a straw.
The last time we had a few oranges in the house, I zested them before Andrew ate them and kept the zest in the freezer.
All the otherwise dairy products are soy substitutes because I have lactose intolerance. I cheat and have dairy foods on occasion, especially cheese, with a dose of lactase pills, but I usually just avoid the dairy.

Read more...