Clay's Smokehouse Grill

By far the best BBQ I have ever had:

http://clayssmokehouse.ypguides.net/

The meat falls off the bone, it's so tender. The slaw and the cooked greens are amazing. The portions are dang good and, for Travis and I, they're local! Perfect!!

Pecan Pie

Pecan Pie

Not-so-healthy but gloriously delicious! This is the best pecan pie I have ever eaten.

Ingredients

1 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup chopped pecans
Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
In a large bowl, beat eggs until foamy, and stir in melted butter. Stir in the brown sugar, white sugar and the flour; mix well. Last add the milk, vanilla and nuts.
Pour into an unbaked 9-in pie shell. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes at 400 degrees, then reduce temperature to 350 degrees and bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until done.

To mix it up, you can add one packet of Starbucks via instant coffee to the mix before baking. Coffee pecan pie is amazing!

Black Bean Brownies

Ingredients:
3 oz unsweetened baking chocolate
1 cup cooked black beans
¾ cups unsalted butter
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
½ tsp salt
½ walnuts chopped

Procedure:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
melt chocolate and butter together on the stove
blend beans in a food processor
whip eggs, add sugar and beat on high for 5 min
add melted butter chocolate butter mix, once it's room temperature, mix together
add beans, vanilla, salt, and nuts, mix together
Spoon/scoop brownie mix into greased cupcake tin up to the top of the rim
Bake for 25 min or until the top is crusty
Cool then eat (the original recipe says to cool in the fridge overnight but... whatever)

Apple Salsa

2 apples (I used one granny, one braeburn)
1 onion
1 anaheim pepper or jalapeno pepper
Juice of ½ lime
2 tbsp cilantro

Slice everything into small pieces and blend together in the food processor. Eat with tortilla chips. Delicious!!

The original recipe said to use 1/2 an onion and both of the peppers. I preferred more onion; both peppers just made it too spicy for some people. I will be experimenting with bell peppers for added color and flavor!

coconut chicken and veggies over quinoa

Today I attempted something new. I will need to experiment a lot more before I come up with something I really like and I'm totally open to suggestions. Here's what I did today:

• Pan-fried frozed chicken in olive oil, coconut kefir, and spices (cayenne pepper, cumin, ginger, salt)


• Added chopped onions and covered


• Added garlic


• When chicken was thawed, I took out and cubed, then added back into the pan


• Turned heat way down and added more coconut kefir and spices


• When chicken was cooked, added chopped mushrooms


• When mushrooms were soft, added parsley


• Let sit for a minute


• Served over quinoa topped with raisins

Soaking Grains and Other Things I Learned

Right now I have kefir fermenting on my bookshelf, rice soaking in water and lemon juice, and I am making plans to start purchasing raw milk. Why?

I have heard from a few different sources that grains should be soaked before cooking. For a long time I have felt as though planning meals far enough in advance that I remember to soak anything was too much of a pain but I recently began trying to do so, even if only for a couple hours. I had a niggling feeling, however, that there is more to soaking grains than just putting them in water and letting them sit.

On Sat I had a conversation with one of YDAO’s volunteer staff – Eric – about food. He explained to me that the reason for soaking grains is to begin the digestion process. It takes us 24-36 hours to pass food through our systems but in that amount of time grains have barely begun to break down. Also, whole grains contain something called phytic acid, which blocks us from absorbing the nutrients in the grains. If we soak grains in order to begin that digestion process, the phytic acid breaks down and we absorb the nutrients.

As I guessed, there’s more to soaking grains than just putting them in water overnight. In order to start this pre-digestion process, the grains must be soaked in something acidic. Eric told me what acids are good for this but I had to look it up in order to remember: kombucha, kefir, raw apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, yogurt, to name a few. According to this site you mix 1 tbsp of the acid per cup of water and soak overnight. Another site says to soak 12-24 hours. I’m excited to have a new way to use my kefir; it doesn’t taste very good by itself. I was imagining how tasty rice soaked in coconut kefir will be. Mm-mm.

If you are drinking milk right now or eating yogurt or anything dairy I suggest you either put it aside or wait until you’re done eating as you read this next part. Purchasing raw milk has become very important to me as per my conversation with Eric. I had already heard that pasteurized milk kills all the healthy bacteria which helps build our immune systems as well as the vitamins and enzymes that make milk healthy. Here’s something I didn’t know:

Cows were never supposed to produce as much milk as the cows hooked up to machines and sucked dry. These cows develop mastitis – an infection in the udder – and up to 50-70% of the milk is pus.

Here, have another glass of pus – I mean, milk.

Gross.

I have just ordered the book “Nourishing Traditions” from the library. I’m excited to continue learning about healthy eating. Hopefully my food budget can keep up! ;)

Kale Chips!!!

I heard about these from a friend and KNEW I had to try it for myself.

Need:
1 bunch kale
salt
olive oil
baking sheet

Pre-heat the oven on 350 degrees
rinse kale
dribble olive oil across the bottom of the baking sheet
arrange kale leaves on baking sheet
lightly drizzle olive oil across kale
sprinkle salt across kale

bake for - I don't know - 5 to 7 min or until leaves are crispy.

These things are tasty right off the baking sheet! And they're super healthy. You can dip them in hummus but they are kind of fragile. I would also like to try them in a food dryer (Shelli's suggestion) and at lower temps.

Spinach Dip

Ok, yummy, I "discovered" this dip while watching Rachel Ray at the gym. It looked so delicious (and I was looking for a way to incorporate more leafy greens into my diet) that I thought I'd go ahead and give it a try.

Ingredients:

1 can white kidney beans (although obviously it's healthier if you buy dried ones and cook them yourself)
1 large bag of spinach
2 cloves garlic
1/2 lemon worth of juice
olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

• Drain and rinse the beans and put into a food processor
• Sauté chopped garlic in olive oil
• Add spinach in the pan with the garlic and wilt
• Put garlic and spinach into the food processor with the beans
• Add lemon juice
• Add enough olive oil so it blends easily together
• Add salt and pepper to taste
  
  As you’re sautéing the garlic and wilting the spinach, remember that higher heats cook out the nutrients in vegetables. I barely wilt the spinach and never cook my veggies over a “3” on the burner.
  In true Raychel style I have begun experimenting; today I made this recipe but added feta cheese (thanks for moving the feta to a location where I could find it, Krysti. Or was it there the whole time? Haha!). Super yummy with tortilla chips although Rachel Ray suggested - endive leaves? I think that’s what it was. Shelli and I were discussing trying it with kale chips.
  

Butternut Squash Soup

Hello all! I've tried my hand at one recipe for butternut squash soup and didn't like it much so decided to make up my own, with the help of a recipe a friend of mine used. It was much better. Here's what I did and some of the variations you can try.

Butternut Squash Soup

1 large butternut squash (I used 1 small butternut and 1 small acorn) peel and cube
1 med yellow onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped or crushed
1 carrot, sliced
1 potato, peeled and cubed
2 tbsp butter
Water
Sea salt
Pepper
Cayenne

You can add chicken stock or bouillon to the broth. I would imagine that if you use chicken stock you probably don’t need to add water but you’ll want to add the bouillon to the water

Sauté the onions and garlic in the butter. When the onions are tender, add cubed squash, potato, and carrot then add water to cover the veggies
Let veggies simmer until tender
Blend everything in a blender
Add salt, pepper, and cayenne to taste. If you use bouillon or chicken broth, you’ll probably need less or possibly no salt. I used only water so needed quite a bit of salt.
Eat and enjoy!

Anybody have any other good/interesting ideas for butternut squash soup? This was only my second attempt and it turned out delicious but I'll bet it could be better!

Squash season!!!

About two years ago I discovered that fruit and vegetables contain very few calories while packing in the vitamins and minerals. I was able to lose weight simply by incorporating more vegetables into my diet; they filled me up but reduced the amount of calories I consumed in a meal; the fat nearly melted off my body.

Today I am still experimenting with different fruits and vegetables in my meals. This fall I decided to search out the secrets of squash. They are in season right now and one of the many fruits I am not very familiar with. I've discovered so many types! Acorn, golden acorn, swan white acorn, butternut, crooked neck, spaghetti, etc.

The other day I made a butternut squash soup that was great but not what I expected; I wanted something savory and this came out very sweet. I've baked a couple squash with butter, brown sugar, and nutmeg; once I stuffed the squash with pears coated in brown sugar. Krysti made pumpkin bread that was to die for. Delicious! Oh, and I discovered baking the seeds (like you would do pumpkin seeds) to make a wonderful snack.

My favorite discovery so far is adding squash to pasta. No, I don't mean eating spaghetti squash, although that sounds like a great idea too. What I've done (twice now, and LOVED) is saute squash, garlic, and shallots in olive oil or butter. Once the squash is tender, I add cooked pasta, toss them together, and serve. My mom can't have pasta so, as I was telling her of my experiments, I suggested she try it over rice or quinoa.

I'm not limited to just the squash, garlic, and shallots, though. I love to add bell peppers, carrots, mushrooms, parsley, and chicken in the mix. What a delicious dinner! Yum, I can't wait for lunch!!

Autumn Soup

Brad asked me to take care of meals this week and last. This week I decided to make Autumn Soup, one of my childhood favorites. I know! It's not fall! What was I thinking! But really it's good any time of year. : )

Autumn Soup

1 lb beef
1 med yellow onion, chopped
3 carrots, chopped
4 potatoes, cut up
1 large can tomatoes (or you can cut your own; I’m too lazy)
Any other veggies that sound good (green beans, mushrooms, zucchini, etc)
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
1/8 tsp basil
(rosemary?)
2 bouillon cubes
4 cups water

Cook beef (with rosemary?)
Add onions and cook for another 5 min
Add water and bring to a boil, then drop to a simmer
Add potatoes, salt, pepper, basil, bouillon, and simmer for about 10 min.

Add carrots and simmer for another 10 min.
Add tomatoes, continue to simmer until veggies are tender

Scrambled Eggs

But why eat just plain old scrambled eggs? Bor-ing.

I spice mine up by adding vegetable and spices that I like.

I chop up as much onion and garlic as I'm willing to eat.
I saute the onion and garlic in butter or oil that's pre-heated with crushed red peppers.
I add herbs and spices; this morning, as usual, I added cumin and cayenne - don't forget the salt!
As soon as the onions are tender I add my egg.
When the egg is cooked I add chopped mushrooms and parsley.

I made my scrambled eggs into an egg sandwhich by toasting a multigrain english muffin and dumping the egg into it. It was sooooo delicious!

Guess what! You can add cheese, salsa, bell peppers, anything else that sounds good to you. I LOVE cooking!

The english muffins of which I speak I found at Trader Joe's; they're Disraeli and Gladstone multigrain english muffins. They have 160 calories, 5 grams of fiber, and 7 grams of protein.

Parsley Pasta

I wasn't really sure what to call this one but it's super delicious. It's one of my favorite dishes and I have it freqently.

I'm going to write it out as a single serving so if you're feeding more than just yourself, be sure to double, triple, whatever the amounts so you're not starving anyone.

I start by putting a pot of water on to boil for the noodles and putting a fry pan on for the meat and vegetables. Then I get all the ingredients together. I use:

crushed red peppers, rosemary, basil, and salt. You could try other herbs as well such as oregano, thyme, sage, etc - whatever sounds good, really.

1 tbsp olive oil
1 clove garlic
1/3 to 1/2 cup chopped onions (I like lots of onions)
1/4 cup bell pepper
1 portabella mushroom
1/2 cup fresh parsley
1/4 lb extra lean ground beef (you can try any meat or no meat at all if prefered)
1 serving Trader Joe's multigrain w flax spaghetti noodles

Make sure the onions, garlic, bell peppers, and mushroom are chopped. You can chop the parsley or just cut off the stems.

I add the olive oil to the pre-heated pan then add the herbs and spices in whatever amounts I feel like using - about a 1/4 tsp of each. I let everything heat up and make that olive oil tasty. Then I add the garlic, onions, and bell pepper and let them saute for awhile. If the water's boiling, go ahead and add the noodles.

Once everything in the pan is hot I add the ground beef and salt and get it cooking. When it is cooked I add the chopped mushroom, mix it around with the meat and oil for awhile, drain the cooked noodles, dump them on top of the veggies and meat, then add the parsley. Once everything is hot, it's ready.

Enjoy!

Mexi Dip

Here's what I'll be eating for lunch today:

Mexi Dip

1 cup brown rice

1 tbsp olive oil

salt, cinnamon, cumin, crushed red peppers, and cayenne to taste

1 can black beans

1 can corn

as much cheese as you feel comfortable with

ditto on the tortilla chips

Cook rice with spices (2 cups water to boil, add rice and spices, let simmer for 30-40 minutes)For the amounts on the spices, I literally dump them in there and then sniff to see what I think. Maybe a tbsp of each?? If you like sweet, add more cinnamon. If you like spicey, add more cayenne and crushed red peppers

Scoop rice into an 8"x8" pan as a layer.

Add black beans

Add corn

Add cheese

Cover with foil

Bake on 350-ish for 20 minutes-ish

Enjoy with tortilla chips, add to burritos or taco salad, etc

Thank you, Alina, for sharing the basics of this recipe with me!

Yogurt for Breakfast

Today I'm eating delicious Trader Joe's Greek Style nonfat plain yogurt. It has only 100 calories and a whopping 20 grams of protein in a 1 cup serving!

I've "dressed" my yogurt with raspberries, sweetened it with honey, and added a tbsp of ground flax seeds to add fiber and the all-important omega-3 fatty acids. Yum!