I love when I get to see friends I have had since high school. I honestly think that as you age you get more jaded, and that making friends like you had in your most awkward time in your life is not possible, or maybe I’m just terrible….either way I had been meaning to go see Kelly since I moved to Portland. Continue reading “Day tripper: Olympia Washington.”
45 minute chicken pozole
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When change comes in life it doesn’t wait for you to catch up. Looks like we have indeed found our future home here in Portland, in fear of jinxing it that is all I will say at this point, but as soon as I can I will spill the deets (it has a gas range, been cooking on electric so this is exciting news for me). I also am trying to clean up my diet which means I’ve had to curtail my beer consumption, which was basically for me what gruel was for Dicken’s “Scrooge”. In keeping track of calories (a thing I have never done with much success until now)I was stupefied and amazed that pints run about 280 calories for some of my favorite beers….so my beloved hoppy nectar is no longer a daily event. I’ve also switched up the dinner choices and tried to cook some recipes that are conducive to health. Pho is a fav of mine for sure, and today’s recipe is what I would say is similar to the same idea but a Mexican soup called pozole. Pozole contains hominy, a type of dried corn, it is usually made with pork, but I did a chicken version with some local, free-range chicken thighs. The broth has a bit of heat and then you can add toppings to your liking. Its delicious and healthy, while still filling enough to forget its low in fat and calories. I could eat soup for every meal I think and this one is a crowd pleaser, unless your crowd is folks with ulcers or severe aversion to chiles…..this one packs a bit of heat. Continue reading “45 minute chicken pozole”
A call to all my past resignations or why women should throw each another a bone.
I strategically spotted the open booth still un-bussed from the previous set of tea drinkers…a moment to read the Willamette weekly while my bombastic 2 and half year old could play in the play area and be happily distracted while I caught up on snarky articles. I needed to transport our smoothie, and my kombucha….I managed…went to put the water class from the prior custys back in the bus tub, which they themselves should have done, but as I placed the glass into the lower bus tub God forbid…it drops and breaks, a J. Crew Khaki clad Granola-turned Yupptard, type A shouts “Easy! There are kids here!” as if I could control a bout of distracted mom clumsiness and already being embarrassed, further embarrassing me not to mention interrupting others with her anti-glass shard manifesto. Continue reading “A call to all my past resignations or why women should throw each another a bone.”
Japanese Curry
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The other night we went down to Moon and Sixpence and had their amazing “Curry Chips”, I guess in Britain this is totally a thing…a really, really, great thing! Basically its delicious French fries with curry gravy, and it is about the best thing I have ever had as a drinking food.
Continue reading “Japanese Curry”
Thanksgiving…..off the grid.
This year we had the opportunity to have the holiday with our friends (also from Ogden, UT) Heidi and Steve. Last year they sold their home in Ogden and decided to move to Wilhelmina, Oregon. The Edwards’ were always the self-reliant types, growing gardens, DIY projects, distilling, sewing, making their own cured meats. They decide to “go off the grid” or “homestead” in a rural town in OR. Just an hour out of Lincoln city on the coast. This region is particularly interesting as it is a rather fertile area, with more wineries then residents it seems, it is the unpretentious Oregon version of Napa, with some top notch pinot gris and pinot noir being made between hazelnut farms, meat producers, and eclectic art galleries. Their property is five acres, they have chickens, greenhouses they constructed themselves, and a mix of art and future plans for a massive garden.
We headed up from Portland, and within an hour and half were in another world it seemed. After turning onto a gravel road and heading up the hill we made it to their lovely home tucked between trees and a haven for critters of all sorts, the kids loved it, and we loved it to. Heidi and I grew up on the same street, three houses away, we oddly never really met until we both worked together at the “City Club” in Ogden, UT. We instantly hit it off, with loads in common, and an appreciation of questionable jokes and potato vodka.
As a hostess gift this year I brought her a handle of our favorite “Mono” as a homage to our friendship, we drank a few as well and dined on a fantastic “Franken Bird” as she called it, it was an outrageously fresh and delicious turkey from Providence farm in Philomath.
Steve brined, deboned, and stuffed this bird with homemade pork sausage, and fresh spinach, trussed and roasted to perfection. I make a fine turkey don’t get me wrong, but this rendition was mind blowing, also on the menu was eggnog glazed ham, homemade ciabatta, the usual suspects of potatoes, gravy, stuffing, I brought a butternut squash salad, and bakalava, and Heidi’s friends the McLean’s brought a really good gluten free pumpkin pie.
Heidi and Steve take great pride in their ability to be self-reliant, to them that is off the grid, what a wonderful holiday we had, if each one of us could find our own way to be “off the grid” I think the world would be a more peaceful place…Namaste.
Ghostly roasted beets with whipped feta and pepitas
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Halloween is only three days away and I wanted to make sure I got another “spooky” food idea up before the season is over. I love beets, I have many a post dedicated to them and here is one for Halloween. Fun enough for the kids and still sophisticated enough for adults this recipe is a win, win. I got some amazing loose beets from Chuck’s over the weekend, they were huge, local, red beets the size of a softball! I roasted mine whole, which ended up taking about three hours! You can easily roast your beets ahead of time and refrigerate so you they will be ready whenever you need them. Aside from the roasting time this recipe is super fast and simple.
You will need:
1 large beet (softball sized) you could use two smaller ones but they might be a little harder to decorate.
4 oz. crumbled feta cheese
1/4 Cup cottage cheese
a few handfuls of salad greens, arugula, spring mix, whatever you like.
3 tbsp. olive oil
2 tbsp. Balsamic vinegar
a handful of pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
Heat your oven to 375 degrees, stab beet a few times with a fork and wrap whole in aluminum foil, roast about three hours or until easily pierced with a fork. Cool a while then peel, while beet cools, in a blender place feta with cottage cheese and blend until smooth and whipped up, refrigerate until ready to assemble. Slice beet into four slices, in a bowl whisk olive oil and vinegar together, add greens, salt, and pepper. Distribute dressed salad evenly over four plates, top each with a slice of beet, and using a ziplock bag with a hole cut on one end or piping bar, pipe ghosts on and top with pepitas for faces. Enjoy your Halloween with this fun salad!
Mu Shu Vegetables (Vegan but you would never know it!)
Awww, Chinese food! I probably ate more Americanized Chinese as a kid then at home, so for me Chinese take-out or eat in is total comfort food. My mom worked at a restaurant called “China Nite” in my hometown, and even though it had been decades since she worked there, we would eat there often. It has since been knocked down, and the giant Hoi Toi statue is sitting in a junk pile somewhere. After “Nite” closed, we started to venture out to other local options, one being “Golden Dynasty”, in high school my bestie Holly and myself would go there for hot and sour soup and Mu shu pork. Mu shu is my favorite order and I have had it many places, a great veggie option as it is full of flavor and super easy to recreate at home. So I am going to share my no fail, easy, plant based version of this comfort classic.
You will need for six wraps:
6 flour tortillas, or rice flour wrappers (Asian market), I used the Tortilla land brand that you cook at home. Use whatever you like, you can also healthify even more with whole grain varieties.
1 small head of cabbage, shredded or if you need to be super duper fast use a good quality bagged “coleslaw” variety, it will work fine.
1 carrot, shredded (if you are using bagged slaw you can omit this)
5 green onions, white parts cut lengthwise, green parts sliced.
8 shitake mushrooms, stems removed, tops sliced.
1 Tablespoon, fresh ginger, grated.
2 cloves garlic, minced.
1 Tablespoon vinegar, I used red wine, but rice wine is optimal, use what you have, but not balsamic.
1 Tablespoon soy sauce
2 Tablespoons, plus a bit extra for the wrappers, Hoisin sauce.
2 teaspoons, toasted sesame oil.
Sesame seeds for garnish.
Asian Micro greens for garnish, totally optional.
1 block of tofu, sliced, I baked ours but you can fry or choose your own method, you can also substitute whipped eggs if you prefer, but if you are new to tofu this is a great way to introduce your family to it.
A few tablespoons of cooking oil.
In a large skillet or wok over high heat oil till shimmering, add ginger and garlic, add white parts of green onions, add mushrooms, cook a few minutes till mushrooms brown a bit, add sesame oil, cabbage, carrots, cook a few minutes, add vinegar and soy, stir, add tofu and 2 T of hoisin sauce, combine, add green parts of onions, test for seasoning adjust with salt and pepper if needed. Remove from heat. Warm your wrappers of choice, divide filling evenly into wrappers and top with a bit of sesame seeds and hoisin. Rock and roll em’ up…gobble em’ up!
You won’t ever need to order take-out again! These are fast, easy, and full of veggies and flavor!
Quick baked soft pretzels that are a fraction of the price of the mall and super easy!
For this week’s posts I’ve decided that I will do some kid friendly, fast, weeknight recipes. These are kid friendly and easy, but are tasty enough for everyone. School started this week and so does an added level of stress and excitement. Besides being close to having a nervous breakdown when the bus was late the first day Ava rode it home, this year seems to be much easier than last year’s kindergarten transition. With focusing mostly on plant based eating lately, my daughter has for the most part been pretty good about it, she does however have requests, so today’s recipe (if you can call it that, it so easy) was for her. Ava loves those mall soft pretzels, she hasn’t had one since we were in Utah for summer vacation…so I figured I would indulge her a bit. Trader Joe’s is within walking distance from her bus stop so the other day we went to pick up some of their awesome, health- minded products, I bought some of their whole wheat pizza dough to make these pretzels, if you don’t have a TJ’s close by, you can use another brand that you like, the less ingredients the better (avoid the pop open can if possible), or of course you can make your own. In high school I worked at Einstein’s bagels and my favorite job was topping the bagels, we would take the thawed dough, we received it frozen from corporate, and basically the baker would dunk the dough into the toppings, proof, and bake which is what was my inspiration for topping these pretzels.
You will need:
1 bag of pizza dough, usually they are a pound, I used whole wheat to make a bit healthier version then those one’s at the mall my daughter loves.
1 sheet pan, lined with parchment, or cooking spray
Topping of choice, I did two of each kind, sesame seeds (about a teaspoon for each pretzel), cinnamon sugar (1 tablespoon sugar to 1 teaspoon cinnamon, makes enough for probably all six if you wanted to go the sweet route), and some finely grated Tillamook medium cheddar (about ½ tablespoon for each pretzels, I also topped ours with a dash of smoked paprika). You of course could always just do coarse salt and keep it classic, but I was having bagel nostalgia, and my kids love the fun of having the variations. Choose your favorites!
Pre-heat your oven to 450 degrees. Cut your dough into six equal pieces, roll each piece into a long “snake” about a foot or so, seal the open end, twist once or twice and lay the twisted end on top of the bottom….it will look kinda like a heart, I winged this….mine are definitely not perfect, but that is when you call them “artisan” pretzels….haha. You can also just lay them down like breadsticks, but my kid wanted pretzels, you can find a few tutorials on the web if you really wanna get particular. After shaping of dough, press into a shallow dish of toppings, lift out and place on prepped sheet pan, repeat until all pretzels are topped. Bake for 10 minutes and volia! These seriously are just as good as the mall variety, have less fat, unless you choose to dunk yours in butter or whatever, no judgment here, and you can make six for the price of 1! Try this with your kids, its fun and easy!
Faster than take-out plant based fried rice
Well finished with my sixth week of plant-based eating, and I am down 12 lbs. and I feel really good. Gotta be honest, I wasn’t perfect, there were some flub ups, but all things considered I feel it was a worthwhile thing to do. Would I ever call myself “vegan” uh, no, first thing first I hate labels in general, next I am totally sitting on a leather chair as I type (it would be hypocritcal,I would however not buy leather furniture again), I think vegan “butter” is a sham (it might be even more unhealthy then the real thing!), and as a culinary artist (at least I like to think so) I could never limit my materials to the extent necessary to fly under the vegan flag. I think plant based eating is the key to optimal health, there is no question there, Americans do not eat enough fresh food, and the standard American diet is well, SAD. I think if I do purchase and eat animal products in the future, I will be picky, we all should be. I want to know the origins of where and how I am getting what ultimately will go into my body. Look gang, if the burger is 99 cents, that cow lived a horrible life, I truly believe that if you eat something that was stressed out and treated inhumanely you will be consuming bad energy. Don’t spend more on a gallon of gas then you do on your lunch, you owe it to yourself and your loved ones.
American mass market agriculture needs to change, we could feed the entire planet if we could just eat less factory farmed animals! Challenge yourself to try to be plant based during the weekdays, then on the weekend eat whatever you want, you will be healthier and you will naturally be sharing the wealth with others….be picky, if we demand better it will change. My advice right now?? Try and source as much as you can from the actual source of production which is an easy thing that has a “trickle down” effect that makes a difference. I want to evolve and be plant based, but if I am in Italy I’m gonna probably eat the prosciutto, but I’m not gonna support factory farms and I will not be eating animal products for every meal….no one needs to. OK rant done…thanks for standing by. Now for healthy plant based fried rice.
This recipe serves 4, you will need:
4 cups rice, I used left over short grain brown
½ package firm tofu, crumbled, this is your plant based “scambled egg”…my daughter didn’t even notice, switch this out and I betcha no one will notice!
1 cup cooked, shelled edamame
1 carrot, diced small
1 clove garlic, minced
½ small onion, diced small
1 Tbsp. cooking oil, the healthier the better
1 Tbsp. Bragg’s liquid aminos or soy sauce, you can let everyone add more after it’s done to suit their preference
1 green onion, sliced thin
Optionals: sesame seeds, sambal chili sauce, herbs, whatever else you like or veggies you have on hand.
In a large skillet over high heat, add oil, onion, carrot, and garlic, cook until onions are clear, about 4 minutes, stirring constantly. Add tofu, toss, add rice, edamame, and bragg’s or soy, stir using a wooden spatula or chopsticks, cook about 5 more minutes, making sure to stir often. Top with green onions and other optionals! Quick, easy, faster and cheaper then take out, and healthier! This will become a new favorite for you and your family! Kids love it!
One pot pasta wonder (Gluten Free Version)
So like many others, I was totally seduced by the “One Pan pasta” on the Martha Stewart blog from June. It basically went instantly viral, its simplicity and sensual photos of dried pasta in water with some herbs and tomatoes were irresistible as is usually the case with anything Martha puts her name on. A lot of bloggers have blogged it as is, and one even deemed it virtually impossible to use gluten free pasta in it, now as with most things in my life when I am told it is “impossible” or “crazy” I go straight for it, is this poor judgment or genius….I’ll take the latter thank you! So this is a plant-based, gluten free version of this simple idea, which actually kinda reminded me of making “Hamburger helper” or “Pasta- roni” for me and my sisters as a kid. I also added some extra tasties, switched out a few things to use what I had on hand, and topped with my mushroom bacon here(this time I used button mushrooms as that is what I had on hand), I skipped the cheese I am on week five of my plant based experiment, but I’m sure some pecorino or a dollop of pesto would be outrageous.
Ingredients:
2 cups Tru Roots gluten free, whole grain pasta ziti (the original recipe used spaghetti)
1 onion, sliced
3 cloves garlic, sliced thinly
1 15 oz can diced tomatoes, I had the Organic ones from Costco in my pantry (original called for fresh cherry tomatoes)
3 cups Vegetable stock, I used this instead of plain water, I bet a little wine would be good too
¼ cup chopped black olives, I used these to add richness that the extra oil would’ve done
1 pinch salt, dried Italian seasoning, and red pepper flakes
10 turns of the pepper grinder, or 1 tsp ground black pepper
In a pot place everything except pasta, bring to a boil (the original called for putting the pasta in too, but since gluten free pasta has a shorter cooking time I boiled the other stuff first), when it is at a full boil add pasta, cook until most of the liquid has evaporated and pasta is al dente about 8-9 minutes.
Top:
I used some chopped “Mushroom bacon”here totally optional, but delicious and some fresh parsley, the original called for fresh basil but I didn’t want to go to the store to get it so I used Italian, flat leaf parsley since I usually always have a bouquet sitting in a vase in my fridge.
So it can be done with delicious results, another ingenious idea, reinvented, in the words of Steve Jobs “Good Artists Copy, Great Artists Steal” Haha! Thanks Martha….or should I thank Pasta-roni?
