Trees and Flowers Casserole

This is a variation on a family favorite. Growing up, chicken-broccoli casserole was my favorite dish. As a teenager, I started having my mom leave me a chicken-free section. Today I had cauliflower and broccoli that needed to be used A.S.A.P., so I came up with this creation. The kids asked for second helpings.

Granted, this isn't the healthiest recipe, but it is definitely healthier than the original, and for me still hits the spot.

Ingredients
1 head of broccoli, chopped
1/2 head of cauliflower, chopped
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1/2 C mayonnaise
2 T lemon juice
1 tsp curry powder
1/2 C milk
2 or 3 T butter
1/2 C bread crumbs
Shredded cheese

Directions
Bring 5 cups of water to a rolling boil in a large saucepan. Add broccoli and cauliflower and cover. Boil for about 4 minutes. Combine soup through curry powder in a medium bowl, then thin with the milk. Melt butter in a separate bowl, then add bread crumbs and stir until combined.

Line the bottom of a 9x13 casserole dish with the vegetables. Pour the soup mixture over the top. Sprinkle with cheese, then cover with bread crumbs.

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Serve over rice.

Asparagus Alfredo Pasta

I adapted this recipe from Cooking Light

Ingredients
1-box whole wheat thin spaghetti
1 lb asperagus
1/4 C butter
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 C milk
1/4 C flour
1 C parmesan cheese
salt, pepper to taste

Directions
Pre-heat oven to 425. Start water boiling for pasta. Meanwhile, trim the asparagus and cut into 1-2 inch pieces. Place asparagus pieces on a jelly-roll pan coated with cooking spray and bake for 10 minutes. Add the pasta to the water when ready, and cook according to package directions.

Heat the butter in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. When melted, add the garlic and saute for a bit. Then add the milk and flour. Stir until thickened (about 5 minutes), then remove from heat and add cheese, salt, and pepper.

When everything is done, place in a large bowl and toss together. Eat it as soon as you can.

This was a hit with the kids, who had already eaten by the time I made this dish. They both wanted to eat from my bowl when they smelled the food. My husband loved it as well.

Sauteed Vegetable Pasta

I got some asperagus from the food co-op I belong to, and threw this dish together for a quick Sunday dinner.

1 package of penne pasta, prepared
1/2 bunch of asparagus, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 handfuls of sun-dried tomatoes. mine are not oil packed, but some of those would probably work
1/2 tablespoon minced garlic
olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

I started the pasta cooking, then heated the oil over medium-high heat. I threw in the vegetables and sauteed until the pasta was nearly ready. Then I added the salt and pepper and a bit of shredded parmesan cheese.

It was good, as well as easy.

Tofu Tacos and Vegan Sour Cream

This recipe (another from my cooking class) got high marks from my husband and I, but the kids rejected it on the grounds that it was too spicy. It is better with corn tortillas, but I just used what I had on hand. I combined the leftover tofu mixture and sour cream, rolled a bit inside a flour tortilla, placed in a casserole dish and covered in enchilada sauce for enchiladas. I think I baked them for 20-30 min. at 350. The kids rejected the enchiladas as well--again, too spicy. My kids do better with curry spice than chili powder spice. Anyway, here is the recipe:

Tofu Tacos (from drmcdougall.com)
Preparation Time: 30 minutes
Cooking Time: 10 minutes
Servings: 6-8
Spicy Tofu:
24 ounces firm tofu (not silken)
4 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons lime juice
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons garlic powder
½ teaspoon cayenne

Drain tofu in a colander and press out excess water with paper towels. Cut into ½ inch
cubes. Combine soy sauce, lime juice, chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, and cayenne
in a large bowl. Add tofu and mix gently. Let stand for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Place a large non-stick frying pan on medium heat. Add tofu and cook turning
occasionally for about 10 minutes. Set aside.

Cabbage:
4 cups finely shredded cabbage
3 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar
½ tablespoon lime juice
Combine all ingredients in a bowl and set aside.

Corn Tortillas
Soften individually on a dry non-stick griddle, or wrap in a towel and heat in the
microwave.

To assemble:
Take a soft corn tortilla, spoon tofu and cabbage down the center, add a bit of aioli and
some hot sauce, if desired, roll up and eat with your fingers.

TASTY TOFU SOUR CREAM or MAYONNAISE
Revised by Janet Hailstone from
OF THESE YE MAY FREELY EAT by Joanne Rachor (cookbook given out at my Healing Diet class)
1 12.3 box soft Mori Nu Tofu
1/3 cup raw cashews (for added creaminess)
1/3 cup water, optional (if needed to blend)
1 lime juiced
1 tsp each of salt onion powder and dill weed
½ tsp garlic powder
Blend all for 2 minutes until very smooth

Lentil Burgers and Potato Salad

This is one of the recipes from the cooking class I took. I made the burgers and salad for a BBQ at the Ranch, and it got high marks from most (some of the little kids ignored the burgers after one bite, knowing it was different than what they were used to). My kids ate more of this burger than they usually do regular burgers (that's not saying much, though, since it's not a favorite food around here). The burgers were a bit mushy in the middle, but if I hadn't been so hungry I would have cooked them for longer, which would have dried them out more.

The potato salad got rave reviews from one and all. No one knew anything was amiss with the ingredients. I normally do not like potato salad, but I love this version.

Here are the recipes:

LENTIL BURGERS
By Janet Hailstone

1 cup lentils
1 cup short grain brown rice
6 cups water

Boil lentils and rice together till tender about 20-30 minutes. To increase nutritional content soak 12 hours, drain and sprout 12 hours in a covered container and then only boil at 15-25 minutes. Drain and put in large mixing bowl.

1 onion, quartered
1-3 garlic, minced or just drop them in the blender
½ c water

Blend to liquefy onion, garlic and water. Then add to bowl.

2 cups oats, rolled or quick
1 Tbsp of your choice of seasoning blend (Mexican, enchilada, taco, Italian, etc.)
1 Tbsp sea salt

Add and mix well. A Bosch or bread mixer is very handy for this, or use beaters possibly or a potato masher.
Using a large or small canning ring, depending on your choice of size of burgers, pour enough of the mix into each canning ring on a greased cookie sheet. For easier square burgers, try spreading the whole mix on the cookie sheet. Then, using a table knife cut equal-sized squares that will shrink a bit away from each other during cooking. Place wet round burgers close together as they don’t expand, but tend to shrink as they dry out during baking. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Turn burgers and bake another 15 minutes.

VARIATIONS
Use 3 cups cooked black beans instead of lentils for a more authentic color.
Or, use 2 cans drained pinto beans or other choice of beans.
Then, boil rice separately in 3 cups water.
For a garden burger, add 1/3 cup each of chopped mushrooms, green pepper, minced celery, water chestnuts etc., but not watery tomatoes or you’ll need to add a 1/3 cup more of oats.
For chicken burgers, use white colored beans like Navy or Northern. Then, for the seasoning blend, use poultry seasoning.
Add 1 cup raw sunflower seeds for a fun crunch.



“BEST EVER” POTATO SALAD
By Janet Hailstone

8 medium or 4 large potatoes, boiled, skinned, chopped 1” cubes
1 bunch of celery, chopped
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 block Mori Nu Tofu – Firm or Extra Firm
1 yellow bell pepper, grated or chopped
1 lemon juiced
½ cup Vegenaise, the grape seed-oil type (This really makes the salad taste good)
1 Tbsp Dill weed
2 tsp salt
1 tsp turmeric

Boil potatoes whole until tender (about 30 minutes). Drain, rinse in cool water as you easily peel the skins off. Let cool submerged in cold water while you prepare the other ingredients or just refrigerate until cool so you don’t have a warm salad. Cut into 1” cubes. Add to a large mixing/serving bowl after cooled. Wash celery as a whole bunch as well as the insides to remove dirt. Keeping the whole bunch together, chop the dry ends off and discard, then chop ½” pieces. Use 2/3 to all of the celery including the leaves from the tips of the celery to the base. Crumble tofu in ½” (more or less) pieces by just squishing with hands or mixing spoon in the bowl. Add spices. Mix all ingredients well, chill and serve.

Optional:
½ cup each of chopped pickles/sunflower/pumpkin seeds

Baked Sweet Potatoes with West African-Style Peanut Sauce

I made this recipe for dinner on Sunday. We had some friends over for dinner. The only alteration I made in the original recipe was to omit the red pepper (so it would be more kid-friendly). Here is a link to the recipe.

Vegetable-Cheese Soup

This is another one of those inventions of necessity. I wanted to make broccoli-cheese or potato-cheese soup, but didn't have all the right ingredients. So I made up my own soup with what I had on hand. Everyone liked it. My 10-month-old loved it so much I froze most of the leftovers in ice cube trays for him.

Ingredients:

1 onion, chopped

3 carrots, peeled and chopped

3 potatoes, chopped(what I had on hand--small red variety)

1 head of broccoli, chopped

about 5 C water

4 bullion cubes

1 stick of butter

1/2 C flour

1 1/2 C milk

1-2 C cheese

Directions:

Place chopped veggies in a large pot and cover with water, and add bullion. Boil for about 20 minutes, or until potatoes are tender.

In a small/medium saucepan, melt butter. Add flour and milk and let thicken. Add cheese.

Add cheesey mixture to the veggies in the large pot, and stir.

For baby: puree soup in a small food processor or blender before serving.

Easy Mac-n-Cheese

One thing that is pretty guaranteed that my little boy Sol will eat is mac-n-cheese. I don't do the box stuff, so here's something I do for an easy and fast lunch. It's somewhat adapted from the Deceptively Delicious cookbook.

Boil some whole wheat pasta (rotini, elbow, or farfalle work well) in water following directions on box. Then I make a sauce by stirring in some cream cheese, shredded cheddar cheese, milk, and vegetable puree* (usually of winter squash, cauliflower, or pumpkin). Stir into pasta until well mixed and the cheese sauce is the consistency you like. Sorry I can't be more specific, I just do what looks good.

*I just steam/bake the squash/cauliflower/pumpkin and then puree it in my food processor and then freeze the puree in ice cube trays. Then I can put extra veggies in sauces and foods. Right now Sol is a big fan of veggies, but it never hurts to have extra helpings for him or us!

Wheat Meat

I finally got up my courage to attempt to make wheat meat (can be used as meat substitute or meat extender). I went to a friend's house so we could at least have fun if the product failed miserably. Turns out it was a lot easier than I thought--especially because I used gluten flour, thus skipping many daunting steps.

Here's the recipe:

2 C gluten flour
1/3 C flour (whole wheat, soy, rice, it doesn't matter)
seasoning (you can add whatever you want here, or wait until later)

mix together well, then add:
1 1/4 C water

Stir about 10 times, or until everything magically comes together.

Form into four balls and place in steamer. Steam for 20-30 minutes. Place in blender or food processor (if you want ground beef-like substitute). You can then bake it, fry it, add it to recipes, etc.

I haven't tasted it yet, because I had leftovers to dispose of last night. Thanks, Angie, for being brave and trying this stuff out with me.

Becca's Bean Gunk

Hi Shauna! Thanks for including me in your healthy-bloggy-foody project. Here's a little vegetarian contribution.
Matt and I fell in love in our dingy student apartments over steaming bowls of this stuff. It's fast, easy, made of cheap ingredients, and tasty too!
Bean Gunk

olive oil
sea salt
one onion, chopped
garlic
2 or 3 cups of vegetables: celery, carrots, peppers--even fennel or hard squash would be good, too.
1 can of stewed tomatoes
1 can of black beans, with their juices
fresh herbs-- cilantro is my favorite
other possible additions: chipotle tabasco, cumin, smoked paprika, turmeric

Saute the onion, garlic in the olive oil until they're a little bit carmelized. Add whatever spices and the veg and cook for a few more minutes until everything is really combined and smelling amazing. Then add the tomatoes and the beans and let the stuff simmer for 10 minutes or so, until it thickens a little bit and everything is thoroughly combined. Add the chopped fresh herbs and voila!
I like to serve it on rice, with maybe some cheese or sour cream on top.

Note: You could expand this into a soup easily-- just add broth and/or white wine when you add the tomatoes.
I hope you enjoy it!

Crispy Chickpea Pitas

Here's one we had this past week. I got it from a magazine I love-Real Simple. Here's the recipe:

Crispy Chickpea Pita

hands-on time: 20 minutes, serves 4

Ingredients:

3 TB olive oil
1 15.5 oz can chickpeas
3 TB fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped, plus 1/2 cup whole parsley leaves (if you have on hand, mine had gone bad, so we didn't use it this time)
3/4 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
4 plum tomatoes (I use whatever I have in my fridge)
4 pitas or pieces of flat bread, warmed
1 8-oz container hummus (or you can make your own, look below)
1 small red onion, thinly sliced (again we didn't have this at the time, so we just omitted it, but it's really good)
1 tsp hot sauce (such as Tabasco)
1/2 cup plain yogurt (or sour cream)
1 lemon cut into wedges

Directions:

Heat 2 TB of oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chickpeas and cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly browned, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Add the lemon juice, chopped parsley leaves, tomatoes, and the remaining oil, salt, and pepper, Divide the warm pitas or flat bread among individual plates and spread with the hummus. Top with the chick peas, onion, and hot sauce. Serve with the parsley salad, yogurt, and lemon wedges.

***note*** some yummy things to add may be kalamata olives, or just plain black olives sliced up, or (if you're not worried about keeping it vegetarian) cooked chicken pieces.

Hummus: Using a blender, food processor, or magic bullet (great thing!!) blend 1 can chickpeas (garbanzo beans) with 4-5 TB chicken broth, 2 cloves garlic, 1 TB lemon juice, and 2 TB tahini (or we added 1 TB sesame seeds). We added some olive oil as well to make it a little smoother. Salt and pepper to taste and serve chilled with sprinkle of paprika on top. It's really that easy!! And it can be a yummy appetizer with pita chips or pieces of pita bread while you get the rest of dinner going.

Creamy Curried Cauliflower Soup

Here is a recipe I've been experimenting with. My ten year old loves cream of broccoli and my husband loves cauliflower, so I decided to combine. It's not incredibly fast because of the vegetable chopping, but it took me only about 20 minutes to get it simmering on a day when the kids weren't too crazy and interrupting.

I love soups, too, Shelby, and love to experiment with them. This soup works well without as many spices, too, though it's a still a very subtle curry flavor. My whole family loves this soup, even the three year old.

Creamy Curried Cauliflower Soup

Ingredients:

One large onion
Two stalks celery
Two medium carrots
One large potato peeled and diced
Handful of Italian Parsley
2 T. extra virgin olive oil
1 T. smoked paprika
1 T. chilli powder
1 t. garam masala or your favorite curry
1 fresh or dried bay leaf
1 t. salt

1/2 c white wine (optional--I only use it if I have some on hand, which is rare--Trader Joe's has good cheap bottles)
2 c water
One large head cauliflower
2 c bechamel sauce (aka white sauce)*
1 c. cream, half and half or milk

Directions:

In heavy bottomed pot, sautee diced vegetables, garlic and chopped parsley in the olive oil gently over medium heat until soft and onion is transparent. Turn heat up to medium high and throw in ground spices--give the vegetables a few turns until the spices look like they've cooked a little, but before the vegatables brown too much. Add water and cauliflower. simmer until cauliflower is just tender. Add wine and simmer for several more minutes, then incorporate a cup of liquid from the soup into the bechamel. Transfer bechamel to big soup pot. Remove bay leaf. Finish with cream, and adjust seasoning. Don't let soup boil after the addition of the cream. This soup may be pureed or served as is.

*Bechamel (I use this as a base for everything, especially things you would use a can of creamed soup in.)

1/4 c. butter
1/4 c. flour
1 t. salt
2 c. milk
a light grating of nutmeg, if you like that flavor.

Melt butter over medium to medium high heat. Whisk in flour, and keep whisking until the color turns golden brown. Whisk in milk. Leave over heat until the sauce bubbles, then turn down to low and cover for ten minutes.

Veggie Stroganoff

Here is another example of creativity bread of necessity. This meal was thrown together from the few ingredients I had on hand.

Ingredients

4 veggie burgers, thawed
1/4 onion, chopped
some olive oil
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1 can water
oregano
bay leaf
1/4 C red wine
salt and pepper
cooked rice

Directions

heat oil on medium-high heat, add veggie burgers, break up with wooden spoon. Add chopped onion, and brown. Add soup and water, mix together. Sprinkle with oregano and add a bay leaf and wine (if desired). Reduce heat and let simmer for a while. Add salt and pepper to taste, remove bay leaf, and serve over rice (or noodles).

This dish received high marks from all of us. My three-year-old gobbled it up readily.

Creamy Asparagus Soup

I of course realized after I finished the last post that one of the main tenants of the blog was going mostly meat free, so I figured I'd better pull out another yummy soup recipe that's actually vegetarian...and really good!!

Also, this is a GREAT baby food. My son Sol loves this (minus the nut part). I got this here at Self.com.

Creamy Asparagus Soup

Serve with a whole-grain roll and a piece of fresh fruit to turn this light starter into a filling meal.

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 1 pound asparagus, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 1/2 teaspoons butter
• 1 small onion, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 leek, trimmed of all but 1 inch of dark-green top, sliced
• 1 celery stalk, sliced
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 3/4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• White pepper
• Pinch of nutmeg (optional)
• 1 tablespoon pine nuts

Preparation

1. Bring a medium pot of water to a boil; add asparagus (make sure water covers asparagus). Cook 5 minutes. Drain, reserving 1 cup asparagus water. Remove 16 asparagus tips; cut in half lengthwise; set aside. Heat butter in a medium saucepan over low heat until melted. Cook onion, leek and celery, covered, stirring occasionally, until soft but not brown, 10 to 16 minutes. Add salt. Add broth; bring to a simmer. Cook, partially covered, 8 minutes. Puree broth mixture, asparagus (not tips) and reserved asparagus water in a blender, in 2 batches. (Remove center part of blender lid to prevent hot liquid from bubbling over. Instead, hold a folded dish towel over hole in cap.)

1. Return pureed soup to pot; heat until it just reaches a simmer. Season with pepper and, if desired, nutmeg. Cover; remove from heat. In a small pan, toast pine nuts over medium-low heat, shaking pan occasionally, until nuts are fragrant and browned in some spots, about 6 minutes. Season nuts with salt. Divide soup among 4 bowls; top each with 8 asparagus-tip halves and toasted pine nuts.

The Skinny

93 calories per serving, 4.2 g fat (1.4 g saturated), 10.3 g carbs, 3 g fiber, 6.5 g protein

Chicken Broth and Yummy Soup

Shauna thanks for the invite! My name is Shelby and my husband was friends with Shauna and Darryl back in the day during high school. Good thing, because I've gotten to know Shauna! I'm a working mom right now, so while cooking and eating is important to me, so is the time it takes to prepare. So while I'm trying to make good wholesome meals, I'm also trying to figure out ways to do it that fit our schedule.

So in following with previous post, I have become somewhat of a connoisseur of making my own soup. I come from a family of soup lovers, and how easy is it to pop a can of soup into a bowl and into the microwave?? Well, that was fine and dandy until I found out really how easy it is to make that soup...from scratch. I feel like it's so much better too because, like the Fam (sorry, I don't know your name!) pointed out, it's nice to actually be able to pronounce the ingredients in your food. Here's one of our bi-weekly/monthly favorites at our house. This is a good one because it makes several meals for your family.

First, we buy a whole chicken. If you're going organic, I'm sure you can find something at a Trader Joe's or local farm. We haven't gone that far yet, but we're headed in that direction. I just pick one up from the local supermarket...okay let me correct that-Johnny picks one up, because he's the grocery shopper in our family. Anyway, you prepare it by cutting off the plastic wrap, taking out the yummy insides (don't worry they mostly come in a bag these days-you probably won't even see anything), and rinsing out the whole chicken in the sink until the water runs out clear. Then I put the chicken on a cutting board and season it. Usually it's nothing more than just salt, paprika, or poultry seasoning. It's good to coat the outside skin as well as between the skin and the meat.

Then I pop it into a crockpot in the morning and set it on low. That's it! By the time I get home at night, it's ready to serve. Try having it with some stuffing or mashed potatoes with green beans or steamed carrots and broccoli. Now here's the trick. Once you've had your yummy dinner, cut away all the chicken from the bones. We like to separate the dark and white meat, but you can do it how you like. Then you can use it in other recipes, casseroles, or freeze it.

Now take the rest of the carcass-skin, bones, and all and put it back in the crockpot. Fill the crockpot with water to as full as you would like. The water doesn't really burn off, so make sure you've got enough water. Then we may add some extra seasoning, but mostly we just let the crockpot simmer for overnight or longer on low. (When we're extra busy I think we've let the broth go for a day or 2...not that I'm recommending that!) When you're ready, strain off the chicken remnants. I start with a regular strainer and use a very fine strainer at the end. Put the broth into a pot and bring to a boil. I usually make my soup with white rice and wild rice, so I'll bring the broth to a boil, add the rice and let it simmer for 30 minutes or until the rice is cooked (read the directions on your rice). In the mean time, go ahead and cut some celery and carrots. Add in the cut up chicken last and you've got yourself some yummy soup. One caveat is that you really have to add salt to this baby. But I don't feel too bad about it since you really can see how much you are adding, and I can almost certainly guarantee it's less than what you get in a canned soup.

Shelby's Easy Chicken Soup

Broth from whole chicken
a few carrots peeled and chopped
2-3 stalks celery
white and wild rice
some fresh parsley chopped
salt to taste

1. Boil broth.
2. Add rice, cover and simmer ~30 minutes or until rice is cooked.
3. Add celery and carrots~10-15 minutes before soup is done.
4. Add chicken, cook until chicken is heated.
5. Add parsley and salt to taste.

Sorry about the measurements, but I really eyeball this and it just depends on how much chicken broth you make. Oh, and if you don't want to make so much soup, you can always freeze the broth for other recipes. Then it's nice to know what's actually in that chicken broth!

Greek Garden Pizza

I started making pizza-dough, then realized I was out of shredded cheese. Here is what I came up with:

for the dough:

1 t yeast

1 pinch sugar

2/3 C warm water

2 C flour

1/2 t salt

1/4 C olive oil

put in bread mixer, select dough setting, press start. Or just make like regular dough.

Roll onto pizza stone (or a cookie sheet or upside-down jelly-roll pan), spread prepared sauce of choice on top, then cover with:

1 carrot, peeled and chopped

1/4-1/2 onion (depending on how much you like)

1 stalk of broccoli florets, chopped

1/2 red pepper, sliced

some pine nuts

top with feta cheese, then bake at 450 F for 12-15 min.

This dish earned high marks from my husband and I, but my daughter sneered at it. She ate a slice after she shoved all the topping off. She did eat the broccoli after removing it from the pizza, though.

Curry Pumpkin Soup

I've been trying new pumpkin recipes to use the pumpkin puree from our Halloween pumpkin. I adapted this recipe from allrecipes.com.

2 tbs. pumpkin seeds (optional--I used a mix of pumpkin and sunflower seeds--for the simple reason that they are stored together in the same mason jar)

2 tbs. butter

3 tbs. all-purpose flour

1/2 tbs. curry (I have a very strong curry powder. If yours is not so strong, or you just like things really spicy, add more)

4 C vegetable broth

1/4 C finely chopped onion

1 tsp. bottled minced garlic

3 1/2 C pumpkin puree (or 1 29 oz. can)

1 can (15 oz) coconut milk

2 tbs. soy sauce

1 tbs. sugar

salt and pepper to taste

the original recipe gives instructions on how to toast the seeds in the oven. I sprayed a skillet with cooking spray, then toasted the seeds for a few minutes that way. If your seeds are fresh from the pumpkin, oven toasting would work better.

Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat. Stir in flour and curry powder until smooth. Cook, stirring, until mixture begins to bubble. Add onion and garlic. Gradually whisk in broth, and cook for about 10 minutes (or until thickened a bit). Stir in pumpkin and coconut milk. Season with soy sauce, sugar, salt and pepper. Bring just to a boil, then remove from heat. Garnish with roasted seeds.

By the way, I resolved the Halloween candy dilemma in the following ways. First of all, we opted to go out for the evening, so we gave out nothing (it's kind of cheating, but it worked). Second, my daughter got sick of trick-or-treating early so she didn't end up with much candy. Third, I bought a toy to trade for her candy. This was a TERRIBLE idea for our family. She hated the idea of anyone (fairy or otherwise) taking her candy. I could see her point of view, so she ended up with the toy AND rationed candy. I won't do that again. Live and learn, right?

Curry and Cookies

I made dinner tonight for a friend who just had a baby. She is allergic to egg and dairy (just like my daughter), so I made her some recipes I found while I was avoiding those foods.
Shauna's Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients
2 stick of dairy free butter, softened (I prefer Nucoa or Earth Balance)
1 C white sugar
1 C brown sugar
8 oz silken tofu (soft) pureed in blender or food processor
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
3-4 C flour
6-8 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips
Directions
Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F. Cream together first five ingredients. Add the next three and mix together. Mix in two to three cups of flour and check the dough. Dough should be sticky enough to form balls, but not stick to your hands. Add more flour if needed. Stir in chocolate chips. Use an ice cream scooper or large spoon to form into balls and place on a cookie sheet or jelly-roll pan (my favorite). Bake for 8-10 minutes, depending on your oven. Cookies should be golden brown on top (see picture above). Cool on a baking rack or somewhere other than the pan you baked them on (they tend to keep cooking and burn or get hard on the bottom if you don't remove them).

These chocolate chip cookies are surprisingly good, unfortunately for me. I had three--so much for eating less refined sugar. The good news is, they are cholesterol free and higher in protein (I think) than "normal" cookies. Someday I'd like to experiment with my recipe and try using agave, raw sugar and/or apple sauce instead of the white and brown sugars. I decided not to tinker with the recipe tonight, since I was giving most of them away.

Masaman Curry for a Crowd (can easily be made vegan, if that is your preference)

1 and 1/2 cans of coconut milk
1 1/2-2T masaman curry paste (depending on how spicy you like it)
1 lb. chicken, cut into big chunks
1 cinnamon stick
2 bay leaves
3 T sugar
1 T salt
5-6 red potatoes, washed and cut into big chunks
1 onion, chopped in big chunks
1 C raw, unsalted cashews
1/2 bag baby carrots (assuming you have the same size bag as me. Use your best judgement)

Directions
Heat coconut milk and curry paste in a large pot over medium heat. Mix well. Stir constantly for about 5 minutes. Add the chicken and stir to cover with the curry. Add the next 4 ingredients, cover and stew for 30 min. Add the last 4 ingredients and simmer for another 30 minutes, or until the potatoes are done. Serve with brown rice.

It sounds like a long time to cook, but if you time it right, it's not bad. I started the rice right after I added the chicken (brown rice takes about 45 min. to cook). Then I chopped the vegetables while the chicken was stewing, so I didn't waste so much time. I made the cookies during the last 1/2 hour, so everything was done at about the same time.

This was the first time I'd given my daughter brown rice and she LOVED it! I made the curry mild enough that she liked that as well. And of course, she loved the cookies.