Squash Soup

It's Fall once again! That means it's pumpkin and squash season!! I love me some squash! You can bake it, mash it, make a pie with it or add it to a cookie, cake or bread mix. It is awesome!!

Though hands down my favorite way to eat it is in a soup. In this form it seems quite healthy and so I don't feel guilty when going back for seconds. hehehe

Garden: FAIL

Gardening this year has sucked!

The tomato plants on their last days

The weather was cool all summer, we never got any heat. That said most of the plants didn't make it. The Tomato plants grew but didn't produce much. The peppers never got bigger then 8 inches and had only one bud that fell off. So no peppers! I tried spinach and lettuce, but nothing really took off.

Last attempt at pumpkins

I have some pumpkin plants growing but it is so late I doubt if they will produce any pumpkins. I have them in doors so maybe it will be sunny and warm enough to get one or two mini pumpkins before Halloween.

Found a 5th caterpillar, hopefully it is the last

I found catapillars on the greens. First two then a week later two more and finally yesterday a 5th one!! What gives!! I moved them indoor after I found the 3rd and 4th. I don't know what to do! I really wanted some good greens. I miss me some southern cooking. Greens and crayfish etouffee, yumm. . .

My Greens are pitiful

Well we will see if I get anything edible from these last attempts.

Salad Pizazzl

Salads; your either love them or hate them. I love them though I often find myself getting board with them. I just am not the greatest at Salad Pizazz! Though I have been working on that and have learned a few things since I reintroduced salads back into my diet. I hope to come up with some more delicious salad bling!

I like to go ahead and wash all the lettuce and greens the first time I open them. It saves you time and from a hassle later. Besides I am more likely and willing to make a salad if the lettuce is already cleaned and prepped.

Have you ever added Pickles to your salad?

Or maybe Jalapenos?

I had never added pickles to my salads until I read that Skinny Runner adds pickles to her's. Wow, it really livens up a salad, and Jalapenos were just a natural progression for me. I love me some Jalapenos!! Ay Picante! I add them to my salad thinly sliced, not whole. I also avoid the seeds, a few are ok but too many and my mouth is on fire! When done right, and by 'right' I mean ' to your personal preference', it really gives your taste bugs something to work with.

I always try to add a protein to my salads, It just makes it yummier and more satisfying. To date I have added Pistachios, cashews (not salted), pecans, almonds, sunflower seeds, and even sesame seeds. I have a whole bag of walnuts still to open and try on a salad. I am hesitant because I think I may have a settle allergy to them. I like them and can eat them, but after a few my mouth gets dry, an artificial dry. Nothing worse happens, but I just don't enjoy the cotton mouth effect. So far I have plenty other bags o' nuts to use. No rush on the walnuts.

Often in place of or heck even with nuts already in my salad I like to add beans. Before I would just pop open a can and have at them. I have since learned from The Daily Green food news blog, about the hazards of canned goods, and so have started to prep beans on my own. It is quite simple and not really that time consuming at all.

These are my usual Dressing Ingredients. I mix some mustard with the mayo if I want a thicker dressing, or with milk if I want it thinner. I always drizzle a little olive oil over my greens. The capers and the lemon juice are back ups if I don't have anything else to provide a punch. This all said I have discovered that a dressing is not always necessary. WHAT? yep! It's not so necessary when the plate is loaded with so much flavor already.

This salad was delish' and no dressing. Grilled chicken and mushrooms from the night before, hummus, alvocado, and feta. It was a little over loaded ( a lot overloaded!) but I didn't want it to go to waste. Leftovers can be a surprised salad topping! Who'd thunk!

This salad I just had for lunch the other day. A plate full of lettuce, with Feta cheese, pickle slices, jalapenos slices, pistachios and get this, Hummus!  (FYI: Hummus is a Middle Eastern puree of chickpeas and sesame seeds. You can read my post about how to make it, here.) I drizzled a little olive oil on the exterior ring of lettuce and then when to town. This was so yummy. I added my home made Hummus to a salad for the first time ever and I will be doing it again! So crazy good and good for you.

Homemade Hummus

Hummus! Oh Hummus! This is a middle eastern spread made from predominately chickpeas and sesame seeds. I have enjoyed this dish since I was a kid, but I never tried to make it myself until this year. The main change was that I got a food processor for my birthday from a good friend of mine. That helps!

I eat hummus most often as a veggie dip. It is great in sandwiches and as an additional side dish to dinner. I also just recently discover it is quite good in a salad.

To make Hummus, you first soak some chickpeas over night, it is the same processes as I wrote in the Beans post. Then the next day you boil the bloated beans until they are nice and soft.

Once cooked I pour them into the food processor with some of the water from the pot.

I blend them a bit to get them started before I add the other ingredients.

The most important thing is the Tahini, aka Sesame puree. This really helps to smooth out the chickpeas mixture and adds to the flavor.

Tahini is a lot like a natural peanut butter. The sesame oil collects at the top and needs to be mixed back in before it is used.

I have never fallowed a recipe for Hummus word for word. With Hummus I find it is best when I just go by my own taste buds.  But here is a link to a recipe.

Along with the Tahini you also need olive oil and lemon juice for a good Hummus.

I also like to add finely chopped garlic, though this isn't mandatory, but without it the Hummus is pretty bland.

Throw all this in and blend. I usually need to add a little more Tahini or olive oil a few times until I get the right mix. Take your time and don't worry about making mistakes. It is very hard to miss it up, but it might take you a few attempts until you figure out the right mixture.

Though once you do, wallah! Delicious Homemade Hummus!

Beans Beans Beans

Beans! I love me some beans. I love refried beans with some Mexican food, Red Beans and Rice or Black Eyed Peas and Rice with some Greens and Pulled Pork or some Hummus with Falafal, oh I could go on but I better stop. Thinking of some Pulled Pork or a Shrimp Poboy, has just made me have a sudden pang of homesickness and of course made my mouth water. Ooh, I know what  . . .a Oyster Po Boy. yummmm . . Now the mouth watering has taking over the homesickness. It was short lived.

Back to the beans. . .  

I have always eaten beans, and besides when I make soups, I have always just popped open a can, when ever I wanted some beans. It is just quick and easy to get them out of a can, right? 

Right! But is that really the best way to get your beans? I have been slowly working on a healthier diet and I have always been cool with the canned beans, but it just seems healthier if not just cooler to prep your own. So I started this spring prepping my own beans, but it wasn't until the daily green's food blog discussed the risks of canned food that I really started to take it seriously. I now consider this as a lifelong change. If the health benefits don't sway you maybe the fact that it is way cheaper to buy raw beans than canned.

For example, this bag cost me €1.95. Once cooked the beans in the bag are equivalent to 5 to 6 cans of beans (€0.59each).  
Side track: That's €2.95 to €3.54 worth of canned beans for a third the price. I buy the larger bags, which I will be doing from now on, the saving increase. 
The '5 to 6 can equivalent' sounds high, I know! The first time I prepped beans at home, I poured out the whole bag. That was a mistake. I had so many beans I had to store the beans in three different plastic containers. I had frozen 'prepped' pinto beans for months. Take if from me, prep only what you will be using in the coming week or two, or you will be buried in beans!

So to prep the beans, you pour out the desired amount into a bowl or plastic container. This time I used a fourth of the bag.

Then you add water, well above the beans and let them soak over night. I prefer to use plastic ware so I can close it and put it in the fridge. I don't have to worry about knocking it over accidentally.

The next day boil the now engorged beans until they are cooked all the way through. The time on this varies, just keep the water level up so they don't burn.

Pintos are cool to cook, in my observations they are pretty much done, when you blow on them and they spaz out. I mean when the skin cracks and curls back. I wouldn't be surprised if this phenomenon also happens to other beans, but as of yet, I have only dealt with chickpeas (no spazing there) and pinto beans. I just haven't gotten yet to the other beans out there. I just recently finished the last of the Jumbo supply of beans from my first attempt. I still have a bag of chickpeas and one of pintos to get through. It may be some time before I get something different but I think I will be picking up another bag o' beans next time I hit the store.

Once the beans are done cooking and have cooled off I pack them away in the freezer. These beans are really only for my salads. Stored in the freezer they stay fresh.

The beans are now just as easily accessible as the caned beans had been. When I want to add some to a salad, I put what I want of the frozen beans into a small dish, like the one in the photo above, and then pour hot water on them. By the time my salad is fixed and garnished the beans have dethawed and are even a little warm themselves.

I have to say, I really enjoy prepping my own beans. It makes me feel more connected to my food and surprisingly it makes me appreciate them. That, these beans are now edible because of the effort I put into them. I feel a sense of satisfaction that I would never feel from popping open a can.

Oatmeal Makeovers

Lately I have been trying to start my days right, with a good healthy and hearty breakfast. What comes to mind when I consider these criteria are muesli and oatmeal, both of which I do not have the best relationship with. I hate store bought muesli mixtures and oatmeal is so boring.

I mean look at it cooking, it is just goopy and blurpy, who wants to eat that?

I am very lucky that my Guy always says he wants some too when I announce I am making it for breakfast. Sharing it with him causes me to commit to making the oatmeal and to not change my mind for toast with butter and honey or something else that is not so great a choice as OATMEAL is.

Since I was making the oatmeal not only for myself, I decided to dress it up a bit this time, something I never do. Other then Milk and sugar, I never really added anything else, not even fruit.

So First I added the brawn sugar to melt on the hot oatmeal. oh Yummy!

It is always a good idea to eat some protein with carbs and sugars. It helps you to metabolize the sugars slower and reduce the chances of a sugar rush. I added some crushed pecans over the sugar. Check it out, the pecans come from the USA.

Then last but not least fresh sliced strawberries.

Doesn't this just look Delicious! Well it was quite good and so easy to make.

The next day there were no more strawberries so I though to give the mango a try. WOW!! It was so sweet. I didn't need the sugar. I still started with brown sugar and pecans, but I could have just skipped the sugar. I have a new favorite!!

Today I made my oatmeal with shaved apple pieces. It wasn't bad. Though I have to say apples are not high on my list to begin with, but with cinnimon and milk along with the sugar and pecans it was pretty good. It smelled like hot cinnimon rolls with a hint of apple. 

I have rediscovered oatmeal, and new ways to pimp it out are rolling through my imagination. I will have to keep you posted on new ways to enjoy it. The next thing in the works for a health hearty breakfast, is making some muesli that I actually like and will eat.