Recipe Wednesday: The Orange Grape Smoothie

Time for another yummy smoothie recipe!

I came up with this one while on the hunt for a smoothie that didn't need almond milk.  I had ran out and needed something for breakfast.  I had some grapes and orange juice in the fridge so I figured I could use those as my liquid base.  I looked around (of course, on Pinterest!) and combined a couple recipes to come up with this tasty drink!

The Orange Grape Smoothie

1/2 c. grapes (about 75 g.)  (I've used green, red and black grapes all at different times and all three of them taste yummy here.)
4 oz. orange juice
2 oz. coconut milk (If you don't have any on hand you can just use and additional 2oz. of OJ)
1/2 Tbs. chia seed (about 6g)
1/4 c. rolled oats (12g.) (gluten free if needed.)
1/2 c. frozen strawberries (70g)
1/2 frozen banana
1 frozen spinach cube
1/2 scoop protein powder (optional) (I've used Vanilla Spiced Chai as well as regular Vanilla, it is your choice for flavors.)

Place into a high speed blender, in order, and blend.  Or, as I usually suggest, use fresh/partially thawed ingredients if you don't have a high speed blender.

This is a great smoothie to start your day.  It has all sorts of good-for-you ingredients and it tastes delish!  Let me know what you think!

Recipe Wednesday: PBB&A Smoothie

Okay, I'm not so creative with the smoothie names.  The name doesn't really matter, does it, so long as the smoothie actually tastes good??
For a long time now I've been trying to find another smoothie to put an apple into.  This Banapple Smoothie is still quite tasty but I like to vary my breakfasts.  (Don't you?)
I hunted around on Pinterest and combined a couple of smoothie recipes plus added my own little twist.  Peanut butter tastes good with apples AND bananas so why not toss it in the blender with everything else??  (I'm guessing Almond Butter or Sunflower Butter would be just as tasty if you can't have peanuts.)
I usually add in some protein powder for a little extra vegan protein boost - your choice!

PBB&A Smoothie (Peanut Butter, Banana & Apple)

1 c. almond milk
1 apple (with peel, no core) (about 145 g.) (I use Gala)
1 frozen spinach cube 
1 frozen banana (about 126 g) (When your bananas start getting spotty, peel them, break them in half or quarters and place them into a freezer baggie, freeze.  They're now easy to grab for a smoothie.  I used to cut the bananas into slices which made them more difficult to measure out and they froze in a huge clump.  Half pieces are so much easier, if you ask me.)
1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice (this is what I had on hand, I'm guessing apple pie spice would taste equally yummy!)
splash of vanilla extract (about 1g)
1/2 Tbs chia seed (about 6g)
1 Tbs peanut butter (about 16g)
Half to One scoop of protein powder.  This is optional and I will use either half or a whole scoop depending on my protein/calorie needs on a given day.

Place into high speed blender and give it a whir.  Enjoy!
If you don't have a high speed blender, I suggest using fresh/partially thawed, not frozen, ingredients.

This is sooo yummy!  It is my current favorite :)  Try it and let me know what you think!

Recipe Wednesday - Mexi-Quinoa

As many of you know I've been eating a vegan, gluten free diet for a few months now.  (Many of you didn't know that since I think this is the first time I've mentioned the "gluten free" part on the blog, but now you're all caught up!)  I've also signed up to run a 5k with my girlfriend Lisa.  (Yes, it's true.  I've gone 'round the bend!)

Since I've taken meat, eggs and dairy out of my diet AND I'm doing some intense (for me) runs, I need a good source of plant-based protein.  Quinoa happens to be a great source!  I try to use it as much as I can, in my burgers, in my smoothies (yes!) and here in this dish.

I came across this recipe awhile back and, as usual, made a few tweaks.  I think I made enough changes that I can post it here and say it isn't the same recipe.

Mexi-Quinoa
2-3 Tsp. Coconut Oil
1 Red Onion, finely chopped
1.5 - 2 cups Chopped Red, Yellow and Orange Bell Peppers (we buy the three pack combo when they're on sale, chop them and freeze them.  Then when I need them for something like this, I just open  up the freezer bag and pour some out.)
3-4 Cloves Garlic, finely chopped
1 Tbs. Chili Powder (next time, I might try using homemade taco seasoning)
1 c. Uncooked Quinoa (rinsed, drained)
1.5 - 2 c. Vegetable Broth
1 Tbs. Lime Juice
2/3 c. Nutritional Yeast (make sure this is nutritional yeast, not any other kind)
1 jar of your favorite salsa (about 680mL)
1 can Black Beans, rinsed, drained
Corn Chips

In a dutch-oven, heat the oil over medium then add the onions and peppers.  Cook until tender then add in the garlic.  Cook for 1-2 minutes.  Sprinkle in the chili powder, cook about one minute.  Put in the quinoa, veggie broth and lime juice and give a quick stir to get everything mixed together.  Bring to a boil then place a lid on the pan, reduce the heat to low and simmer for about 15 minutes.
Once all the liquid is absorbed stir in the nutritional yeast, salsa and black beans.  (The nutritional yeast gives this dish a sense of cheesiness!) 
Serve with chips.

Recipe Wednesday - Banapple Smoothie

Last fall, when Biju and I invested in our VitaMix, I found a smoothie recipe in the cookbook that came with it.  It called for regular milk and yogurt and since I was eating a vegan diet (still am, for the most part) I needed to change a few things.  Well, I ended up changing more than just a couple things and the smoothie sort of morphed into something I have for breakfast multiple times a week.  Biju likes this on weekend mornings with cashews blended into it (the cashews go in last, after I've already blended everything else up, and only for a small amount of time on a low blend speed. Just enough to break the cashews up.  He likes their crunch!)  Even Alex asks for this smoothie despite the fact that it is green and clearly healthy!

Banapple Smoothie

1 c. almond milk

1 c. water

1 banana

1/4 c. uncooked rolled oats (quick oats would work, also) (use gluten free oats if needed)

1 medium apple (we use either gala or red delicious)

1/3 c. dried cranberries

1/8 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

1 Tbs. ground flax seed 

1 “mini muffin” cube of spinach

1 “mini muffin” cube of kale 

(or two spinach or two kale, which ever combo you want to use)

Put everything into the blender, in order, blend until smooth.  It might take a bit longer to break down the green cubes.  Frozen, cut up bananas work well with this.  

This usually makes just under 4 cups which is the perfect amount for two adults or one adult and three kids.  Sometimes, I pour half into a tall drinking glass and the rest into a mason jar for the next day.

To get the kale and spinach cubes, pour about 1 c. of water into the blender then add in handfuls of the leafy greens bit by bit until the whole bunch is blended up.  Pour into muffin tins and freeze.  Remove from tins and place into freezer bags.

 

Recipe Wednesday - Red Berry Smoothie

Hi, it's me again!  I realized the other day that I hadn't even uploaded pictures from the camera to the computer since the middle of March!!  So I got all caught up with that (check mark!) and now I can move on with getting a few more blog posts up here.

First order of business, though, is to share this delicious smoothie recipe with you!

Since September I've been having mainly smoothies for my breakfasts.  Occasionally I'll throw in a bowl of (gluten free) oatmeal, but honestly, smoothies are just what I'm wanting right now!  (Winter weather didn't even dissuade me from having these delicious, healthy drinks.)

This morning I got out my trusty kitchen scales and measured everything as it went into the VitaMix (instead of just eyeballing it).  This mornings smoothie had just the right amount of tartness for me, you can adjust however you feel fit.  Also, if you don't have a VitaMix or high powered blender, you may want to sub some of the frozen items for non-frozen.  I usually have to use the tamper to get everything down to the blades. 

Red Berry Smoothie
1 cup Almond Milk (use whatever milk you prefer, but I love using my homemade almond milk) (8oz/228grams)
1/3 c. Dried Cranberries (56g.) (I used a quarter cup the other day and it just didn't have the right level of sweet-tartness for me)
1 c. frozen strawberries (140g.)
1/2 c. frozen raspberries (56 g.)
2 frozen spinach cubes (42 g.)*
1 Tbs ground flax seed (6g.)

Put into blender, in order listed, blend until smooth!  This made up a little over 2.5 cups of smoothie this morning.  I drank a tall (2 cup) glass and Aren drank the rest.

Nutrition info (for the whole smoothie) as given by MyFitnessPal:

Calories 358
Carbs 75
Fat 5
Protein 5
Sodium 181**
Sugar 57

*To make my frozen spinach cubes I pour about a cup of water into the blender, throw in a handful or two of baby spinach and blend on medium speed.  Through the opening in the top, while the blender is still running, I (carefully) put more handfuls until the spinach container is empty and the blender is full of liquid nutrition.  Then I pour the mixture into a silicone mini muffin tin and freeze.  Each cube is about 3 calories.

**I'm not sure what the sodium count really is for my smoothie.  I use homemade almond milk but on MyFitnessPal I only have the option of choosing a store bought almond milk.  I can't imagine my homemade milk has much sodium, if any at all.

If you try this (and please do!) let me know what you think!  I have another smoothie recipe coming up soon and a few Indian dishes planned, also! 

Recipe Wednesday - Black Bean Chili

I found a chili recipe online and made a few adjustments, mainly because I wanted to use what I already had on hand.  This turned out delish and I will surely make again. Just like this. 

Ingredients:
1 T. of oil, or so
1 onion, chopped
2-3 T. chili powder (the powder for chili, not the dried chilis crushed into a powder)
1-2 T. cumin
A few cranks of black pepper
1 28 oz. can of diced tomatoes (or 2-3 med/large sized tomatoes, chopped - keep and use the juices that run off!)
1 14.5 oz. can of chicken broth (use veggie broth to make this vegetarian/vegan)
2 15.25 oz. cans of black beans, rinsed, drained
1 can of sweet kernel corn (don't know the size, I don't have any more in my cupboard right now)
1 tsp. of salt, or so 

In a large sauce pan heat the oil over medium high heat.  Add in your onions and cook until tender.  Shake in the chili powder, cumin and pepper.  Let the spices cook for about a minute then add in the tomatoes, broth, beans and corn.  Season to taste with salt.  Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer for about 20 minutes or so.

So tasty.  Easy to make up quickly when you've forgotten to plan dinner and you need to rummage through your cupboards to throw something together. 

I topped mine with a dollop of yogurt.  I even threw on some Bugles that we had on hand for some added crunch.  (They get soggy quickly, so don't throw a bunch in at once.)  You could probably get the same flavor/crunch by using Frito's. 

Recipe Wednesday - Diaper Wipe Solution

Do you find yourself going through boxes and boxes of store-bought baby wipes? 

Have you found you need to use three, four or five wipes at a time to get the job done? 

7 years ago, when Ajay was tiny, I was lucky enough to find a way to make my own wipe solution.  You can either use some cheap store-bought baby wash cloths or do what I did - made my own cloth wipes.  I'm not a seamstress by any stretch of the imagination but I was able to sew enough to make my own squares.  They may not look all that pretty but - who really cares??   You know what they're going to be doing and I can assure you, having straight lines or hidden hems is not important.  (More on the wipes later.)

Diaper Wipe Solution
*Water
*Extra Virgin Olive Oil
*Baby Body Wash (or some other liquid soap) - just find something you know baby isn't allergic to.  I would also suggest finding a soap you feel GOOD about putting on your baby.  I don't want to bash here but there are some things in that commercial, name brand baby wash that should not really be on Baby!
*A squirt or spray bottle - I use the peri bottle I got from the hospital (I've gotten one at each birth)

Fill your bottle almost to the top.  Add in a bit of the EVOO (maybe 1/2 Tbs.) and some of the body wash (1/2 - 1 Tbs)....these measurements are guesses because I never measure.  I just give a squirt of each into the bottle.  If I find I used too much oil last time, I'll tame it down some next time.  Shake it all up.  

Now you can grab a wash cloth/wipe and give it a good squirt of solution whenever you need.  These are wonderful because you just wash them with your laundry so you save money by not constantly buying (and throwing away) more wipes.  (If you don't have cloth diaper laundry to wash these wipes with, you could put them in with your whites and wash them on hot.)  These also do a MUCH better job at cleaning stuff up.  Most of the time I only need one wipe.  Only rarely do I need to grab a second wipe. 

As for wipes, I've read about a couple of different ways to make them.  You could cut receiving blankets into squares if you've got some of those hanging around needing something to do.   What I do is find a coupon (I like the 40% off kind) to a craft store and go buy myself some fabric.  I use cotton flannel for one side and terrycloth for the other side.  I sew them together, leaving a space big enough to flip it inside out, then finish sewing it closed.  I've also experimented with just doing a zig-zag stitch around the whole thing so I don't have to worry about flipping it inside out.  (I think my wipes are somewhere between 4 and 6 inches... just whatever you think is best for you and your needs.) 

We do a combination of cloth diapers and disposable diapers but 98% of the time, we use cloth wipes.

Happy Wiping!!

Recipe Wednesday - Spaghetti Squash Indian Style

Do you have a lot of spaghetti squash growing in your garden and you need some new ideas on how to cook it?  My mom shared 4 squash with us last time we went up for a visit.  2 were for our family, 2 were for my sisters family.  However, when I told my sister that Mom had sent spaghetti squash home for her, she said "no thank you."  So that left me with a lot of squash to use and no idea what to do with them.  (My family isn't big on spaghetti, really.)

I know Indian food is very forgiving.  Once you have all the different spices in your cabinet, you can cook just about anything you want Indian Style.   I did a practice run, of course, to be sure I liked it before I cooked it all like that.

To Start, prep your squash:
Set your oven to 350deg. F
Slice your squash down the middle and scoop out the "guts" - I've read the seeds can be saved and baked up like pumpkin seeds.
Place your de-seeded squash "meat" side down on a baking sheet
Bake for about 45 min. or so - the time will depend on how many squash you have in the oven.  I had 4 so it took awhile.  Once you're able to pierce the flesh easily with a fork, it is done.
(Remove from oven, shut the oven off)
After the squash has cooled a bit, scoop out the flesh.  This should come out very easily!

If I remember correctly, this was all 4 squash scraped into the bowl.

At this point you can cook it right away with whatever spice/sauce you want, or you can put it in the fridge/freezer for later use.  Since I did a practice run, I took a little bit of squash but put the rest into the fridge.  (As you can guess, we enjoyed the practice bit and used up the rest of the squash in the same manner.)

(As I mentioned earlier, Indian food is very forgiving.  Just season it however you want it, with as much/little of each spice that you want.) 

Spaghetti Squash - Indian Style
1-2 Tbs. Oil
1-2 tsp. mustard seed
1/2 - 1 onion - chopped
1-2 tsp. Turmeric
1-2 tsp. Coriander powder
1-2 tsp. Ground Cumin
1-3 tsp. Garam Masala (Store bought Garam Masala can be quite spicy, so start small and build once you know the level of spice your mix is.  My mother-in-law makes ours for us and is careful to make the mix flavorful but not spicy, for me and the kids.)
Salt (a couple of shakes)
Prepared Spaghetti Squash
Rice
Yogurt 

In a dutch oven, heat the oil over medium/med-high heat.  Add seeds, once they pop add in onion.  Cook for a few minutes, then add in your spices.  You want to be sure to cook your spices for a minute or two so they release all of their flavor (and so they don't taste raw).  Add in your squash and stir until coated in the spices.  This could take up to a full minute of stirring to be sure everything is distributed.

During my practice run, I tried this by itself and decided it did taste better with rice.  Then I stirred in a dollop of yogurt and it was YUM.  The yogurt really made all the difference.  I think it helped bring out the flavors. 

Recipe Wednesday - Gelatin Ideas

Quick and cool treats are popular around this time of year.  Here are two ways we've fixed our gelatin this summer:

Lime Jell-O with watermelon juice!
Boil the recommended amount of hot water and mix with the gelatin powder.  When it is time to add the cold water, replace that with (equal amounts of) the juice you're always left with after you cut up a watermelon.  Let set.

Pineapple Jell-O with Mandarin Oranges
Make the pineapple flavored gelatin as directed on the box.  Let chill for about 2 hours, until it starts to get gloppy.  Plunk in some mandarin oranges (I used them from a can, drained).  Let set.

Nice and refreshing.  And don't forget gelatin always tastes better with whipped cream!

 Oh, and Monday we used a box of Peach gelatin to make up a fresh batch of play dough.  I did add a bit of orange food coloring because the peach jello seemed a bit too pale.  Smells great, though!

Here are the kids playing with it again on Tuesday:

We found this recipe on the web (on three different sites).  One website estimated the making time to be about 8 minutes.

1 c. flour
1/2 c. salt
2 Tbs. cream of tartar
2 Tbs. oil (we used canola)
1 c. warm water
1 (3oz) box gelatin (whatever flavor you want for color and scent)

Mix all together in a medium-sized sauce pan.  Heat over medium-low heat.  Stir until it's thickened and and forms a ball.  Dump out onto table and knead until smooth.  (I've seen some recipes say to store this in the fridge but I never have....we just keep it in a baggie with the air squeezed out.  The kids play with that batch until I figure it is getting too old to play with.  I decide it is too old when it either gets too sticky OR gets too dried out.) 

Recipe Wednesday: Twisted Tuna Melt

A couple of Fridays ago I wanted a Tuna Melt.  I was all out of cheddar cheese, though, so I had to improvise.

I took two pieces of whole wheat bread and spread each piece with a bit of low-fat cream cheese.  I then added some tuna salad (a simple mixture - a drained can of tuna, a blob of Miracle Whip lite, a squirt of yellow mustard and a spoon of sweet pickle relish).  I closed up the sandwich and spread some butter on the outsides.  I then turned to my skillet. 

With it heated on medium I added the sandwich.  I burned one side (you may omit this part of the process, if you so desire!!) and was more vigilant so as to not burn the other side. 

Yum!

Recipe Wednesday: Pink Smoothie

We go through yogurt like crazy around this house.  This is why we need to make our own, so we always have enough on hand.  Even then we end up running out, sometimes.  Our two favorite smoothies are the banana smoothie and this one. 

Pink Smoothie is what we call this one around our house. 

I use our Magic Bullet Blender.  You can, of course, use whatever you have on hand.

Chuck in some frozen fruit (we buy a big bag of mixed fruit from Sams - it has Strawberries, Pineapple, Mango, Peaches)
About 1/2 c. plain yogurt
About 1/2 c. orange juice

Blend.  It turns all pink because of the strawberries.  Drink up.  Deeelish.

We've recently started adding a little twist.  In place of the plain yogurt, we use peach yogurt.  Alex calls it the mango smoothie, even though we use peach yogurt.  If you like the taste of orange and peach together, this is definitely a smoothie for you to try!

Recipe Wednesday - Steel Cut Oats

I almost named this "Apple Crisp...Breakfast Style" - this is deeeelish :)

I've been reading about how good Steel Cut Oats are for a couple of years now but I have just never bit the bullet and tried them.  Finally, I was chatting with my friend, Angie, a couple of weeks ago and she mentioned that now that she's tried them, she'll never go back.  Fine.  If they really are that good it's time to take the plunge. 

I went to a local health food store and found some in the bulk bins.  I bought a half of a pound - just enough to try out.  Funny enough, I went down another aisle and found steel cut oats, prepackaged, in a one pound bag for about $1.40 MORE than the price I paid out of the bulk bins.  I think we need to explore the bulk bins a bit more and see what else we can buy from there in the future!

I found some info online about how it is best to soak your oats (and all grains, actually) overnight (or up to 24 hours) for best digestibility.  After looking over a few different methods and recipes, this is what I came up with. 

(You can do some research about phytic acid if you like - I saw something out there about oats not being able to break down the phytic acid on their own but if you throw in some whole wheat flour, that'll help do the trick.  I haven't done enough research to really know what phytic acid is and why we don't want it but I'm adding that to my "To Do" list.  And here is a great place to start, it seems.)

On to the recipe....

1c. lukewarm water
2T. of my homemade yogurt (you can use yogurt, lemon juice, vinegar, kefir, or whey here, just some sort of acid)
1c. steel cut oats
Whole Wheat Flour - maybe a Tbs, probably a bit less.

I mixed it together Sat. afternoon in a Pyrex dish and let it sit on my counter top w/ a Corelle plate serving as a lid.  Sunday morning I made up the rest. 

*I peeled and cut up some apples and boiled them.  Half of these I pureed for Aren, the rest I used in the oats.  I then used the apple-boiling water to cook the oats.  This worked out okay but next time I make it I will try it with regular (filtered) water.

I boiled:
1c. water (from boiling the apples) (didn't take long to come to a boil since I had just made up the apples)
dash of salt

Then I added in...

The rest of the chunked/boiled apples
The oats w/ their soaking liquid

....and put a lid on it and let it simmer for 5-10 min.

After the oats were done cooking I added in:

A dash or two of cinnamon
A dash of nutmeg
A teaspoon or so of butter (next time I'll try coconut oil - prob. a Tbs. or so.  It is so tasty and healthy for you)
Honey (I didn't measure, just squirted it in) (You can use brown sugar if you prefer.)

Stir it up and serve it up. 

It tasted like Apple Crisp for breakfast.

Biju and I loved it.  Alex and Ajay didn't.  Ajay barely tasted it, went into hysterics and went to spit it out into the trash.  Alex at least tried - thought he liked it then changed his mind.  He asked for raisins, and  then I even put a bit of brown sugar in for him.  He still didn't want it.  It might have been the texture, as these are chewier than rolled oats.  So I made up our regular "quick oats" for them since I knew they would eat those.  Once the "quick oats" are gone I'll switch the boys over to rolled oats - a bit healthier for you but still more "normal" for them.  But as for me and Biju, we'll make the switch to steel cut.  So handy to make up a batch and have leftovers for breakfast for a few days.

While looking up steel cut oats I saw that people were using them in savory dishes!  I'd actually love to try the oats that way.  If I find a yummy recipe, I'll be sure to share!  (Oh, and if YOU have a great way to make up oats, please, leave the recipe in the comments section.)

Recipe Wednesday: Parmesan Rice and Peas with Bacon

~~~~
I love this recipe.  I got it from a book I checked out from the library years ago.  My apologies, I can't remember the title.  I haven't had this dish in awhile - I think it's time to add these ingredients to our shopping list! 

Parmesan Rice and Peas with Bacon

Prep time: 10 min Start to Finish: 45 Minutes Yield: 8

2 slices bacon, chopped

1 med onion, chopped (½ cup)

1 c uncooked long-grain regular rice

1 can (14 oz) chicken broth

½ c water

1 c frozen baby sweet peas, thawed

¾ c grated parmesan cheese

1/8 tsp pepper

1. In 2-quart saucepan, cook bacon over medium heat 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally until crisp. Stir in onion. Cook stirring occasionally until tender.

2. Stir in rice until well coated with bacon drippings. Stir in broth and water. Heat to boiling; reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer about 20 minutes or until rice is tender and broth is absorbed.

3. Gently stir in peas. Cover and cook 1-2 minutes or until peas are hot; remove from heat. Stir in cheese and pepper.

1 Serving: Calories: 160 (Cal from fat 40); Total Fat: 4.5g (Sat fat 2g); Cholesterol: 10mg; Sodium:430mg; Total Carbs: 24g (Dietary Fiber: 1g, Sugar 2g); Protein: 8g.

Recipe Wednesday - A better day

This is a much needed recipe for myself.  Today was a rough day for me as a mother so I'm going to put this recipe up so I can come back here and look at it tomorrow.  And again and again as often as needed.

Ingredients Needed
2 Ears - to listen with
2 Eyes - to see the good
1 Mouth - to say positive things, not negative
2 arms - to give and receive hugs as needed
* May require the use of Mouth again to give smooches to little ones
1 Brain - to help keep you focused that the children are children for such a short period of time and you don't want to spoil this time by stressing out over the little things. 

I admit, this is a bit cheesy but don't we all need a bit of cheese now and then?  Nachos, anyone??

Do you have a good recipe for A Better Day to share?

Recipe Wednesday - Kettle Corn

I just made up a batch of kettle corn and I'm having a hard time keeping my hands out of the popcorn bowl long enough to type!  I found this recipe a couple of years back on Allrecipes.com.  I've sorted through a few of the comments and figured out what seems helpful.

1/4 cup oil (I use either canola or coconut)
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup popcorn kernals
Salt

Use a large pan (like a dutch oven) with a lid.  You'll certainly want the lid so your popcorn doesn't fly all over, right?  Put the pan over medium heat and pour in the oil plus three kernals of popcorn.  Once the three kernals pop the oil is ready - add in the sugar and let it melt (you might need to stir it around a bit with a rubber spatula).  The melting should happen pretty quickly.  Pour in the kernals, replace the lid and swirl to coat the kernals in the sugar/oil.  Alternate 3 seconds on the heat and then shaking for three seconds.  This is to keep the sugar from burning.  Continue alternating until the popping has slowed.  Remove the lid and sprinkle in some salt (to your taste).  Pour into another bowl - have it ready and waiting.  If you keep the popcorn in the hot pan, or take too long to transfer it to another bowl, the sugar and popcorn on the bottom of the pan will burn.  Lightly brown (carmelized) is yum.  Burned black is not yum.

Recipe Wednesday - Apple Crisp

It's that time of year!  It is pretty easy to get your hands on some apples right about now so I thought I would throw out this Apple Crisp recipe.  I always have to search All Recipes for an apple crisp style that I like.  I finally wrote one down with the changes I wanted - I made this version over the weekend and it was met with rave reviews.

I used a pie plate for my crisp - that seemed about the right size.  I used the trace amount of butter left on the wrapper to coat the pie-plate. Or you could use a butter/oil spray.

Preheat oven to 350F.

Apple Mixture
1/2 c. sugar (I used white this time, but brown might go well?)
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 c. water
3 apples (whatever your favorite kind is) - sliced, peeled

Mix together the sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg then whisk in the water.  Toss the apples with this mixture and set aside.

Crust/Topping
1 c. oats
1c. flour
1/3 c. packed brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 butter (one stick)

First, in a medium bowl, mix together all but the butter.  Then cut in the butter - use two forks to break the butter up and incorporate it with the oat mixture.  You should end up with pea-sized pieces. 
Take half of the oat mixture and pack it tightly into the bottom of your pan.  Add on your apples, then crumble on the rest of the oat mix. 

Bake at 350F for 45 minutes. 

Enjoy! 
Goes especially well with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. 
Just sayin'.

Recipe Wednesday - Tomato Garlic Ginger Rice

1 Tbs. oil (we use canola)
1/2 Tbs. mustard seed (I'm sure you can omit this if you don't have it on hand)
1 red onion, chopped into big bite-sized pieces
1 head of garlic, chopped
1 finger worth of ginger (index finger length) - peeled, chopped
7-8 Roma sized tomatoes, chopped into big pieces
2-3 c. cooked rice (to your preference)
Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat.  Add mustard seeds.  Once they pop, add onion and cook until almost tender.  Add in garlic and ginger and continue cooking until onions are tender.  Add tomatoes and cook for a couple of minutes.  Mix in the rice, heat through. 

As you can guess, this is strong on garlic and ginger but that's what gives it the flavor.  I really enjoyed this when Biju made it up.

Recipe Wednesday - Veggie Quesadilla

***Edited:  Apparently I cannot look at a calendar correctly, as this is clearly Tuesday and not Wednesday.  I scheduled this last week so it would post tomorrow.  Imagine my surprise when I found this here today.  Oh well.  Enjoy!***

Ingredients
Flour Tortillas - 2
Cheddar Cheese - shredded (or any other kind of shredded cheese you want)
Shredded Zucchini - I stole some from the bags of shredded zukes I saved for making muffins/breads
Frozen Spinach - thawed and patted dry
Green Onion - sliced

On a microwave safe plate, lay out one tortilla.  Sprinkle cheese over top, then add on the rest of your ingredients (I didn't list a measurement, just use as much as you like).  As usual, you don't have to limit it to what I have listed.  Lay the other tortilla over top.  Give it about 30 seconds in the microwave, or enough to melt the cheese a bit.  This makes it a LOT easier to flip later. 

Heat griddle over medium heat and spray with cooking spray.  Cook quesadilla on one side til browned, flip and brown on the other.   Slice into fourths.... or eights if you're going to serve this to children. 

I first had something similar to this at a friend's house during a playdate.  The hostess also sprinkled some sort of seasoned salt w/ the other ingredients, which was tasty.  What do you put in your quesadillas?

Recipe Wednesday - Poori

I made these up for the first time last night to go with our Chick Pea Curry. 

1.5 c. whole wheat flour
pinch of salt
1/2c + 1/4 c. water (slowly add the last quarter cup as needed)

Heat small pan w/ oil - enough to cover

Mix together and knead.  Pull off small bits and roll into balls (ping pong ball size or smaller).  Put a small drop of oil on and roll flat.  The shape of this should be a small circle - do not fold as you did for the chapati.   Submerge the disc and cook for a minute or so on each side.  Drain on paper towel. 

Best served with veg. curries.

Recipe Wednesday - In need of a Diaper

Have you ever been out and about and thought you had a spare diaper in the diaper bag but realized you didn't?  This post is for those moments.  As long as you have a (cotton) receiving blanket, you're in luck.  This should help you get by until you can get your hands on a diaper you would normally use.

This is a fold used with flat diapers.  Since I've discovered this, and other folds, I've decided to bust out the many receiving blankets that aren't getting any use and have been using them as cloth diapers.  It really makes my relatively small diaper stash stretch farther. 

A video would work best, and that's actually how I learned - by watching videos on YouTube.  But I wasn't able to take a video while doing this.  Instead, I took a gazillion pictures for you.

Take your receiving blanket and lay it out flat.  (Design side face down, if you prefer.)

Now fold it in half, bringing the bottom up.

Fold in half again, bringing the right side over to the left.

Now you're goign to take the top left corner and extend it back out to the right.  Hold onto the rest of the layers so they stay put.  You will end up with an upside down triangle.

Now flip the whole thing over.  Do this carefully so you don't end up with the folds falling out.

Take the folds from the right side and either bi-fold or tri-fold (depending on how wide you want the center padding). 

 Fold 1:

 Fold 2:

Fold 3.

Now you're ready for baby.

Bring the center fold up and into place.  Now would be a good time to tuck in some of the wings by the leg.  Just pull the extra cloth by the thigh up - so it sorta makes a U-shaped hug around baby's leg.

Pull the rest of the wing over baby's tummy.

Do the same on the left side.

If you have a safety pin with you, carefully pin into place and you're good to go.  If you aren't normally a cloth diaper user, you likely won't have anything to cover the diaper with, but like I mentioned before, at least this method will allow you to keep baby in a diaper until you can get your hands on your usual diaper of choice.

After this diaper was used, I chose to use another blanket for the next round.  I decided to skip the pinning and I just tied it into place - which might be more likely if you're out and about and don't have a big safety pin on hand.