Weekly plan, 3/1

Monday: Leftover burritos (yum! These are just as good left over as fresh)

Tuesday: Dinner away

Wednesday: Two-bean tamale pie (beans, tomatoes, onions, peppers, veggie juice and spices topped with corn bread), collard greens, cinnamon lime apple slices, and homemade pudding, just for a special treat.(vegetarian)

Thursday: Mediterranean mostaccioli (grass fed ground beef, tomato sauce, zucchini, peppers, onion, and eggplant, whole wheat mostaccioli), spinach salad, and fresh pineapple

Friday: Corn and chicken chowder, spinach salad, pineapple

Saturday: Leftover tamale pie, kale, pear slices

Sunday: Breakfast for dinner! Pancakes, eggs, orange slices

Weekly plan, 3/1

Monday: Leftover burritos (yum! These are just as good left over as fresh)

Tuesday: Dinner away

Wednesday: Two-bean tamale pie (beans, tomatoes, onions, peppers, veggie juice and spices topped with corn bread), collard greens, cinnamon lime apple slices, and homemade pudding, just for a special treat. (vegetarian)

Thursday: Mediterranean mostaccioli (grass fed ground beef, tomato sauce, zucchini, peppers, onion, and eggplant, whole wheat mostaccioli), spinach salad, and fresh pineapple

Friday: Corn and chicken chowder, spinach salad, pineapple

Saturday: Leftover tamale pie, kale, pear slices

Sunday: Breakfast for dinner! Pancakes, eggs, orange slices

Roasted red pepper hummus

I don't have a picture of this one, and I didn't make it this week—I think Christmas was the last time—but I've often had requests for the recipe, and I can't believe I haven't put it on here before.

Roasted red pepper hummus

Origin: Healthy Cooking
Yield: 3 cups
Prep Time: 30 minutes
113 calories, 5g fat (1g sat), 4g protein per 1/4 cup

Ingredients:
  ● 2 large sweet red peppers
  ● 30 oz. garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
  ● 1/3 cup lemon juice
  ● 3 tbsp tahini
  ● 1 tbsp olive oil
  ● 2 garlic cloves, peeled
  ● 1 1/4 tsp salt
  ● 1 tsp curry powder
  ● 1/2 tsp ground coriander 
  ● 1/2 tsp ground cumin
  ● 1/2 tsp pepper

Directions:
1. Broil red peppers 4 inches from the heat until skins blister, about 5 minutes, then use tongs to rotate peppers a quarter turn. Continue to broil and rotate until all sides are blistered and blackened. Immediately remove from heat and place in a bowl; cover and let stand for 15-20 minutes. Note—I do this in my gas oven. I have also done it over the flame of a burner, too, but that seemed to take longer. You really want the peppers blackened and falling apart before you are done.

2. Peel off and discard charred skin (this is easiest to do under cool water, sliding the skin off as you rinse).  Remove stems and seeds.  Place the peppers in food processor, then add beans, lemon juice, tahini, oil, garlic, and seasonings; cover and process until well blended.  Transfer to a serving bowl with pita and/or crackers. Garnish with olive oil and pine nuts if desired.

Weekly plan, 2/22

Monday: Leftover garlic bean soup with homemade cheesy garlic bread, broccoli (vegetarian)

Tuesday: Hearty lentil soup, kale, sweet potato notfries, pears (vegetarian)

Wednesday: Scrambled eggs with zucchini and tomato, cheese and spinach muffins, oranges (vegetarian)

Thursday: Leftover soup, fresh homemade bread, wilted spinach with walnuts, cinnamon apples (vegetarian)

Friday: Bean and rice burritos, collard greens, mangoes (vegetarian)

Saturday: Leftover soup (yes, again—it makes a lot, and that makes mealtimes easy; I just liven it up with some fresh veggies right in the soup and new dishes on the side), cheese and spinach muffins, melon (vegetarian)

Sunday: Leftover burritos, chard, kiwi (vegetarian)

It's an entirely vegetarian week, completely by accident—these are just the things that sounded good to us and made the best use of things we already have in the house. Yum!

Homemade fortune cookies. Really.

I always thought they needed special shaping machines to make a thing as specific as a fortune cookie but last week I stumbled across a tutorial that said otherwise and I tried it. Every time I think "oh no, that's definitely something I will always have to buy premade" the internet comes to my rescue and proves me wrong, and now here I am, maker of fortune cookies, with still more hope for a truly homemade life.

Fortune Cookies
For original recipe and full tutorial click here.
Yield: ~12 cookies

Ingredients:
  ● 2 egg whites
  ● 1/2 cup flour, sifted
  ● 1/2 cup sugar
  ● 2 tbsp water
  ● 1 tsp almond extract
  ● 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:
Set oven to 400F degrees.

1) Place egg whites in a bowl and beat with electric mixer on medium speed until very frothy, almost soft peaks. Add sifted flour, sugar, and extracts, and mix until combined. Add ~2 tbsp water to thin the batter (you'll get a feel for this as you go long).

2) Prepare your baking sheet: the original tutorial suggested using a Siilpat (which I don't have but now desperately want), parchment paper, or just the ungreased baking sheet. I tried the parchment paper, but found that it got too wet, which made it hard to remove the cookie while it was still hot. I also tried the ungreased sheet, but in the end used a very light coating of canola oil, and I had to reapply the oil between each "batch"

3) Working from the center in a circular motion, spread 1 tbsp of batter into a thin 5 inch circle. Bake only two cookies at a time (that's all you'll have time to shape before they cool).

8) Bake until edges are lightly browned, ~5 minutes, but watch carefully—it happens fast! Take out of oven and immediately remove the first cookie from the pan with a very thin spatula.

9) Work quickly to shape: flip the cookie over and place fortune paper (if you made one) on top. Bring sides up and pinch together—you now have a cookie that closely resembles an upright, hard taco shell, sealed at the top. Next bend the bottom middle of the "taco-cookie" over the edge of a cup. Transfer the newly shaped cookie to a muffin tin to help hold its shape while it cooks, then quickly move on to the second one. For the shaping to work it must be completely finished before the cookie really begins to cool, which is fast because they are thin. If you don't work fast enough they will break instead of bending. The original tutorial suggest 10 seconds from start to finish, and also warns that working with hot cookies can be hard on the fingers; this is not an activity for kids.

Tada! Obviously it was a learning process, and some turned out better than others, but Jon said they all tasted great, and he was just as incredulous as I that they came from our own oven.