May 28, 2014: Skulls and Muffins

Skulls and Muffins

Pot holes are a common affliction on our roads here in New England, and usually they are simply something to avoid.  Oddly enough, as I was walking my dog down my street yesterday, I went past this particular one, and I saw this.  It has nothing to do with the food I had to make, it was simply something that struck me.

Another thing that really hit me yesterday was when my friend came over later to tell me that her mother had passed away.  She is a close friend, and I've watched her go through a 2-year-long ordeal of dealing with her mother getting weaker and less capable, and ending up in the hospital on a frequent basis.  So I decided she and her family needed some muffins to wake up to the next morning.  And I had the perfect recipe. These are muffins that I made for the first time last week, and I think they are simply the best blueberry muffins ever (although I would certainly entertain competitors).  Buttery, comforting, blueberry bliss.  I used a pint of fresh blueberries, and omitted the walnuts.  They're a must-try.

Here's the link to the recipe:

Buttery Blueberry Streusel Muffins

Tuesday, May 14: The Potato Known as "Sweet"

Now, I'm not a huge sweet potato fan...but I'm aware that many people like them, and of course I know all about their health benefits.  So, in an effort to mix things up a bit, I decided to throw in this recipe that I stumbled upon during one of my many visits to Oh My Veggies.
It is relatively easy to prepare, and it met with rave reviews from my daughter and from the recipient of this dish.  I even conducted a little experiment and bought 4 organic sweet potatoes and 2 "regular"...just to see if I'd notice any difference when cooking with them.  Guess what?  I did. The sweet potatoes have to be baked beforehand, and then you let them cool before you scrape out the insides (I refuse to ever call it the "flesh"...ew).  Anyway, when I cut therm open, the 4 organic potatoes had a lovely, bright orange color;  the two other potatoes had a dingy, grayish tinge inside...completely unappealing.  I threw them away (sorry...not doing the compost thing, so don't even think about calling me out on that!).
It's a shame it's blurry, but you get the idea...

But, I digress...
Once you have scraped out the insides of the gorgeous, healthy-looking potatoes, you then mash in chickpeas (and yes, I buy canned organic garbanzo beans), and add spinach, and some cheese...

then bake the whole thing into a bubbling, gooey oval of yummy goodness.

Here's the recipe in exact detail...
Healthy Sweet Potato Skins
Try them out...let me know what you think.

May 13, 2014: Tuesdays Meal...Brown Rice Enchiladas

The way this works is that I make the meal for the for each day on the night before...so last night I made the meal that I just delivered today...and I'm starting on the Wednesday meal right now.
So last night, I decided to just improvise.  I knew I wanted to make something kind of "Mexican" (and I must use the quotes there, because it's not like I've ever been to Mexico, which means I couldn't possibly know if what I concoct is even remotely "Mexican"...it's simply my interpretation of it.  That's what cooking is all about, right?  Wow, can I go off on a tangent or what?).
On that note, I'll share with you my Brown Rice Enchiladas.

You'll see...this enchilada is muy delicioso!  So good that I forgot to take the picture until I was almost done eating it.

Wednesday May 7, 2014: the Quinoa thing

I'm just getting my act together here, so this is probably going to be pretty random for now.  It seems to be the way my life works right now.  
So I'm just going to hit you with this...
I made an awesome dish tonight that I was eating out of the bowl with the wooden mixing spoon as soon as it was done.
I am not your typical vegetarian.  I'm atypical in just about every situation, I've come to realize over the years.  On that note, I've only just got around to dealing with the whole "quinoa" thing.  The name wasn't working for me, I'm not a huge grain freak, and I simply didn't bother to look into it.  Well, as with our darling green, kale, I realized it was time to try this thing out.  I will by no means start gushing, because I've only made two things with it thus far...but I will say this:  they are now two of my most FAVORITE things EVER.  (sorry about the caps, but every once in a while, nothing else will do).
So here is the recipe for the dish I made tonight...
my second time...so I tweaked it ever so slightly...a little more miso, and no cilantro (personal taste issue...just don't like it).

http://ohmyveggies.ziplist.com/souschef?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nomsforthepoor.com%2F2014%2F04%2Fmiso-roasted-veggie-tofu-bowl.html