No Knead Bread

Thanks to Reesa for the recipe and vote of confidence! My first and second breads were a great success and I am already planning my third!

Falafel Fail... well sort of.

So I will totally admit that I am frequently guilty of just skimming a recipe and usually that works to my advantage. Tonight it didn't. I used the Bobby Flay Throwdown falafel recipe which I thought I had used to make the falafel for Reesa and Julie's shower (and I may have I just probably read the recipe closer that time.) I got all the ingrediants, mixed them all together in the food procesor, formed three little ball while i heated the oil and threw them in. With in a matter of seconds they totally disingrated. So i thought okay my oil must not have been hot enough i waited a few minute and tried again. At this point i had two crying children waiting for dinner so i had to give up and make them something else. I then went back and checked the recipe again. This time i noticed there was 23 comments about this recipe. hmmm maybe i should have read those first. They were almost all about the disingrating falafel and they had almost all made the same mistake it had! The recipe called for dried chickpeas soaked overnight, but i was like why wait for them to soak overnight when i can just open a can. Well the answer is if you use canned chickpeas they are too wet and fall apart in the oil. So after this discovery i was actually able to save the falafels by adding several teaspoons of flour and dredging the balls in flour before frying. They falafel were actually very good although a little creamier on the inside then i would like. The moral of this story should be read the recipe more carefully... I will let you know if that actually works out.

Veggie Chili

So i finally got around to making the chili I posted earlier in the fall and it was well worth the wait!!! I used butternut squash instead of zuchini and that added a nice sweetness to the spice of the chili. A little cheese on top and some of Reesa's recipe pita chips makes a perfect snow day dinner!
http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/vegetarian-chili

Mushroom and Black Bean Tortilla Casserole

I made this vegetarian recipe tonight and it was pretty good.
I got the recipe from Everday Food Magazine!!

2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
3/4 lb cremini or button mushrooms trimmed and quartered (I sliced them)
(I added onion)
1 garlic clove minced
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
salt and
black beans (1 can rinsed and drained)
8 corn tortillas warmed and halved (I heated them on the gas flame from the stove)
2 cups salsa
1 1/4 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese (I used half mexican cheese blend and half cheddar/jack mix))

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Heat oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet. Add mushrooms (I put in onions too) and cook, stirring often until browned, about seven minutes. Add garlic and cayenne; season with salt and pepper. Add black beans and stir to combine. Cook until beans are warmed through, two minutes. Remove from heat.

2. Arrange tortilla halves in a 2-quart baking dish. (I oiled first with more olive oil.) Top with half the bean mixture, 1/2 cup salsa then sprinkle with one-third the cheese. Repeat with another layer of tortilla halves, bean mixture, salsa and cheese. Top with remaining tortilla halves, salsa and cheese. Cover with foil and bake until center is hot and cheese melts, ten minutes. Uncover and bake until cheese is bubbling, five minutes.

Pork Chops with apples and shallots

Okay so cooking meat is not my forte but i am always looking for an easy dinner for the meat eaters in my family. I have tried this recipe twice to rave reviews both times (from both Todd and Jude.) last week i made it with a side of delicious Parmesan polenta! Here is the recipe:
-preheat oven to 450
- lightly grease a 9x13 inch pan and layer with sliced apples and shallots seasoned with salt and pepper
- Heat oil in a large skillet and cook seasoned pork chops in pan 2-3 minutes a side or until golden brown
- Arrange pork chops on apples and shallots and top with 1/2 cup of BBQ sauce
- Place dish in oven and immediately reduce temperature to 375.
- Bake for 15 minutes or until internal temperature of 160

Pumpkin Pie without the Crust

Last night I made what HungryGirl calls Pumpkin Smash. It is just the middle of the pumpkin pie in a relatively healthy way. It is delicious!! Even better today cold then it was hot last night!
I used fresh pumpkin that I had frozen from last year, I imagine it would be even better with canned pumpkin and will probably try it again with canned.
I didn't have eggbeaters so I used one whole egg and two egg whites.
I used splenda for baking but you can also use sugar.

Ingredients:

One 15-oz. can pure pumpkin
One 12-oz. can evaporated fat-free milk
1/2 cup fat-free liquid egg substitute (like Egg Beaters Original)
3/4 cup Splenda No Calorie Sweetener (granulated)
2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine all ingredients in a bowl, and mix thoroughly.

Place mixture in a baking dish (8" X 8" works well) sprayed lightly with nonstick spray, and bake in the oven for 45 minutes. (It will remain a little soft, like pie filling.)

Store leftovers in the fridge.

Veggies

We stopped at the farmers market this morning and picked up cauliflower, Romanesco (apparently a sweet combination of broccoli and cauliflower- its green and spiky), and beets.

So I made cauliflower soup (my new favorite recipe- so easy, saute onion, garlic & cauliflower, add broth, cook down and immersion blend... so delicious!)

I roasted the beats and plan to saute the beet greens one night this week.

While I had the oven on, I roasted a zucchini and squash that were going to go bad soon.

I am excited for dinner this week.

Yum!