Tonight's dinner was.....

Pan Fried Steak with baked potatoes and sauteed Swiss chard! Man oh man was this a great dinner. I don't eat red meat as much as I used to anymore, and this steak was just perfect. I pan-seared it in my cast iron skillet with just a bit of vegetable oil. The trick to getting that gorgeous sear is to let the cast iron skillet warm up with NOTHING in it for 10 minutes, then add about 1 TBSP of vegetable oil and your steaks (season well with salt & pepper...I also add garlic powder). Fry on one side for 5 minutes, and then turn....3 minutes on the 2nd side for rare, 4 minutes for medium rare and 5 minutes for medium (Of course, this will also depend on how thick your steaks are. After the steaks were cooked I made a Dijon sauce to go with it. The Swiss chard I sauteed in some butter, and then added some fresh minced garlic and crushed red pepper. Once it was wilted down and squeezed fresh lemon juice on it....so refreshing!

I am sorry I didn't take photos. I was really hungry and just wanted to dig in once it was done.

Baking, gluten-free and gardening...and STOP MONSANTO!!

I know, I know....I've been SUCH a slacker and I apologize. Life gets in the way, doesn't it? But that's no excuse. I really need to find a way to incorporate writing in my blog into my daily activities. Now onto my thoughts, such as they are.

I have been doing a lot of thinking lately about food and what direction I want to take regarding said food. I've given a lot of thought to becoming a personal chef as of late, and even have people who have said they would hire me. I must admit, it's VERY tempting. My one fear is that once it becomes my job, I'll lose my enthusiasm for it, and I truly don't want that to happen. I still get giddy when I see a new recipe I want to try. Just the other day I saw this amazing-looking salad on Facebook and just had to make it. It was made with arugula, English cucumbers, jalapenos, mango and sliced onion. It was served with a champagne vinaigrette...and it was very good. I ended up making it again 2 days later for a dinner we were invited to attend. About this same time I saw a recipe for some gluten-free browned butter brownies. Well, one of the people attending the dinner recently discovered she is gluten-intolerant, so I decided to surprise her with these brownies. I'm SO glad I did! They turned out amazing! The recipe called for making flour with hazelnuts (filberts) and mixing it with cocoa powder and sugar. It was a delight for the taste buds! I also used Scharffen berger unsweetened cocoa powder and Guittard bittersweet chocolate (72% cacao). The only reason I used the Guittard was because they sold it in larger chips and it saved me time chopping up a thick chocolate bar. It melted in the butter SO quickly. Even though I have taken Professional Baking, I have never thought of myself as a baker. I do like to make bread, however. There is nothing like the taste of freshly-baked bread, right out of the oven. Such a delight for the senses. I am definitely more of a cook than a baker, but these brownies got me to thinking about exploring more gluten-free options for those who can't eat gluten (poor babies - I truly feel for them - any kind of food intolerance is just rotten!).

I started gardening last year and discovered I can grow fruits and veggies and not kill them, well, not all of them. In the winter I planted red cabbage and Swiss chard. The Swiss chard grew like crazy! I am still trying to grow onions. Maybe they just take a long time? I hope that's the problem. My Greek oregano was a bumper crop! Lots and lots to spare and share. I have about an artichoke plant this year, for the first time ever. I love artichokes and am hoping it takes off and produces lots of this lovely vegetable. Today I decided I needed 2 more tomato plants. I bought a Husky Cherry tomato plant, as well as a Beefsteak. I already have Roma, Big Boy and an Heirloom in the ground. I have 2-3 Romas on one plant so far. I'm hoping my tomatoes produce as well this year as they did last year. I am planting more thyme, basil and I have mint contained in a pot. My Rosemary I planted last year is finally starting to grow. It had me worried as I see it growing all over the place! I love having the ability to go out into my yard and pick my own herbs and produce!! My strawberries are off to a slow start so far but I'm remaining optimistic that they will produce like they did last year. I should just plant a bunch of them since I love strawberries. Oh, I did come across something that really made me happy that I just had to have!! A hybrid fruit tree!! I bought a tree that has been grafted so it produces plum AND nectarines. I am excited to see this. I have a peach tree (I did lose half of the tree (at least 100 peaches) when my Ornamental Pear came down across it in a storm about 6 weeks ago) and a dwarf nectarine. I also have some citrus...orange, lemon and grapefruit. I am thinking the grapefruit needs to be cut down as the rind is SO thick and we never eat any of the fruit anyway. Oh, I also planted a zucchini squash - last year I produced zucchini that was SO large. And it was so exciting, and very satisfying, to have my zucchini be the first solid foods that my youngest granddaughter, Brooklyn, ate. And she loved it!

Part of my food passion has been fueled by the furor over the GMO's. Whoever thought that messing with our food supply was a good idea was a total moron! Monsanto (the company that developed Agent Orange...and Roundup) needs to be stopped. I know it sounds dramatic, but whomever controls the food supply, controls the world. Period. End of story. They are trying to run out the small, organic farmers. I don't want to eat their genetically modified food. I truly believe that is the reason kids are developing so much faster and why we ares seeing an increase in ADHD, ADD, Asperger's and autism....the 4 A's. I know I don't have enough readers to make a difference, but I'm still going to try to educate people on the harmful ways of that evil corporation.

Here is my new motto: Eat well, eat healthy...and remember, the best pharmacy in the world is in our gardens and our pantry. Stop Monsanto!

Big changes coming this way!

Hello!

I have been threatening for quite some time (since the Fall, actually) to make major changes on my blog. Well, today is the day I start making the changes.

I will continue to share recipes and great finds and websites, but I will be doing more writing, as well.

Thank you to my followers. I appreciate any feedback you can give me regarding whether you like the new changes or not.

Hugs!

Caity Sue

Computer problems...ugh!

What a day it has been and it's not even 3:00 pm yet! I slept in a bit and then thought I'd have a leisurely day checking emails and Facebook. I have been noticing for quite some time that my computer seemed to have issues. I finally reached tech support and, $300 and 2 hours later, my computer seems to be fixed. The one thing that is driving me crazy, however, is that they changed my fonts somehow. I DO NOT like the way it looks. Makes it feel like I'm in SAFE MODE. The bright spot is that HH decided to make us bacon and eggs for lunch. He wanted to go out to eat but I wasn't going to leave the tech support guy alone with my computer since he had taken over control. I wanted to watch everything he was doing....and good thing, too, since he tried to remove a couple of programs that I wanted to keep.

I am also noticing issues with my blog. I can't click onto a lot of the links, such as "older posts" and "home". VERY frustrating. Also, I can't comment on someone else's comment...what is up with that? I have NO idea who to contact at Blogger.com, but while I'm in the "fixing" mood, I might as well tackle that next!

I hope you all are having a wonderful day and have something fun planned. Dealing with the computer issues has almost tapped out my fun meter! lol.

Mediterranean Food Festival experience

Last week I met a lady at wine-tasting who gave me a postcard advertising a Mediterranean Food & Music Festival here in my hometown this weekend. I came home, set it down and promptly forgot all about the event until I came across the postcard while looking for my missing instruction manual for my mini-recorder earlier today. (I recently became quite ruthless about throwing things away and that manual may have become a casualty of my purging war.) I immediately told HH about the festival (I'm still not happy about missing the large Greek Food Festival in Sacramento earlier this month)and so off we went. It was a very small festival but the people were friendly and the food was good. We ended up getting a combination plate for HH, with a side of stuffed grape leaves (Warak Dawali is what I think they were called)and a Gyro for me. The combo plate came with a chicken skewer and beef skewer, hummus (very tasty hummus, I might add), Basmati rice and a salad with the MOST refreshing dressing. I asked Jean (the lady who gave me the postcard last week) what all was in that wonderful dressing. She said it was made with lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, oregano, salt & pepper. I will be making this dressing very soon! We then split a yummy Baklava for dessert. I wanted to try the Turkish coffee, but decided against it as I might want to sleep sometime in the next couple of days. :) The live music hadn't started when we left, so we missed out on that. They had a VERY small shopping area that we looked at, but nothing struck me as a "must buy". It was a very nice afternoon and the weather was about 90°....and we were in the shade, which was nice. I love food festivals and this one was pleasant, but not spectacular.

Rosemary, Garlic & Olive Oil Chicken for the Crock Pot

Yesterday I was on a mission to find a healthier Crock Pot recipe using chicken. So many of my chicken recipes for the Crock Pot seem to be bathed in delicious, heavy cream sauces and that was just not going to work for me. I haven't eaten as healthy as I should for the better part of a week now and I wanted to get back on track. I didn't feel like spending hours in the kitchen, either, so the Crock Pot seemed the best solution. Throw it in and forget it!! Now just to find a healthy recipe! I went straight to Google (what would I do without that marvelous search engine?) and found what looked to be a great recipe in a relatively short time. By the time I found my recipe it was already 1:45 in the afternoon and I still needed to make my near-daily trek to the grocery store. Here is the recipe I found. Just click here

It was so easy to make, and cooks on high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours.

The chicken was very moist and tender and the house smelled delightfully of the fragrant Rosemary, with just a hint of the garlic. It also tasted like it smelled - delicious! For a fast, healthy meal, you can't beat this one. I served it with a side of steamed Brussels Sprouts and a nice salad with my homemade Ranch dressing.

Marinated Green Beans

Today the Hunky Hubster (hereinafter referred to as HH)and I had to make a painful visit to the DMV(is any visit there ever anything LESS than painful?). Well there is a bright spot to this less-than-joyous trip and that is that there is a fruit stand on the way back!! Hallelujah! So I made my poor, tired, worn-out HH stop on the way home so I could pick up a fresh veggie for tonight's dinner. I wandered through the small, tight aisles looking for the perfect vegetable to complement the grilled tri-tip we were having. I saw small, too-firm avocados; beautiful, misshapen turnips; fragrant herbs, and some truly luscious fruit. I spied the long, slender, firm green beans and I was sold! I picked up a couple pounds of those beauties and away we went. I arrived home with my precious bundle and immediately searched the Internet to find the perfect recipe, preferable one using ingredients I already had on hand, as the HH made a beeline for the bedroom as soon as we got home. I was lucky I wasn't caught in the vapor trail! After a few keystrokes into the Great Google Machine, this is the recipe I found: Marinated Green Beans

The recipe requires you to chill it at least 3 hours before serving and I didn't do this as I didn't have the time, but I did chill the green beans in an ice water bath for quite a while). Enjoy!
P.S. I completely spaced out taking a photo - SORRY!!

Pasta Puttanesca

This dish has long fascinated me....maybe it was the tantalizing title, or maybe just the simplicity of the dish itself, but it has been on my "food to-do" list for quite some time. Just hearing the name brings a vision to mind of those Italian "working girls" rushing to make this dish before their next "client" made his appearance. It is quite possible that they made this dish just to lure the poor souls to their door! The aroma wafting through the house after the anchovy paste and garlic hit the sizzling olive oil was enough to lure my husband into the kitchen!

I have tried to find the source of this recipe and I can't. I will continue to search as I want to give the creator of this amazing recipe the credit. My apologies to the author of this recipe.

PASTA PUTTANESCA
1 lb spaghetti
6-7 cloves garlic, pasted with the back of a knife, or use a garlic press
1 TBSP anchovy paste
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/3 cup olive oil (I use extra-virgin olive oil)
7-10 tomatoes, chopped and partially seeded*
1 cup Kalamata olives (be sure to pit them if not already pitted)
3 TBSP capers
1/2 - 3/4 cup fresh basil, roughly chopped

Cook the spaghetti in boiling salted water until it is barely al dente. While the spaghetti noodles are cooking, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat and add the garlic, anchovy paste, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is fragrant and a light golden color (this should take 2-3 minutes).

Add tomatoes to the oil mixture, along with the olives and capers, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the pasta is done.

Drain the pasta and add to the sauce. Simmer and turn the pasta using tongs, until it is cooked al dente, about 2 minutes. Add the basil and serve!
*NOTE: You can puree the tomatoes if you wish, but I prefer them chopped.

Next time I make this dish, I will puree half of the tomatoes and see how I like it prepared in that manner.

Enjoy!

Grilled Lemon Chicken

I really am trying to eat better. After my recent health scare I realized that, as much as I love rich sauces, red meats, rice, pasta and potatoes, I must make a change for the better. Now don't get me wrong - I am not planning to boycott all my favorite foods, but I am going to show more restraint than I have shown in the past! lol.

Here is a simple, quick, easy, and most tasty dish.

6 Chicken breasts, pounded to 1/2" thickness
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
garlic powder
sea salt
fresh ground black pepper
Olive oil

I use a grilltop that goes over my gas burners. I brush olive oil thoroughly on grill and heat over medium-high heat. Dip chicken into the lemon juice and then season chicken with the garlic powder, salt & pepper. Place and grill and cook until juices run clear when cut into (about 5-7 minutes per side). Easy breezy sneezy peezy! Enjoy!!!

Quinoa Tabbouleh

Another gluten free dinner!!! I am liking these healthy, yet tasty dishes, and so is my scale! I grilled chicken again (well, we did have beef Monday & Tuesday nights so I needed to get us back on track) and served it with this wonderful side dish, as well as a green salad with my homemade ranch dressing.

Click here for the link to the recipe at myrecipes.com
QUINOA TABBOULEH

Below are the pictures I took while making the recipe.

Remove from heat; fluff with a fork. Stir in tomato and remaining ingredients.

Cover; let stand 1 hour. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

Cuban Ropa Vieja

Tonight's dinner was a Crock Pot delight. I wasn't sure how it was going to taste but I was pleasantly surprised! It was SOOOOO good. So many different flavors just danced on the tongue in a ballet of savory richness!!! I found this recipe at Yummly.com. I served it over brown rice and for a side dish we had the left over nectarine salsa and bok choy slaw from last night.

While revamping my blog, I couldn't find this exact recipe at Yummly.com, but I did find it at GroupRecipes.com and the person who posted it said it came from Woman's Day. Just click on the link below for the recipe.

Cuban Ropa Vieja

Here are the photos I took while preparing the dish.

Beer Lime Grilled Chicken

This was the main dish last night and it was really good! I don't know why I find myself SO surprised when something so simple tastes so good. For years I felt if I didn't slave for 3-4 hours in the kitchen, I was cheating my family. I think this comes from my belief that I show my love for my family via my cooking. My mom always told me, growing up, that the way to a man's heart was through his stomach. I think that adage stuck with me and that is why I feel the way I do about cooking. Or maybe I just love cooking and don't mind spending hours on a meal. I think it would take a shrink to figure me out...and I'd rather spend my money on quality ingredients!

I found this reicpe at AllRecipes.com. Just click on the link below.

Beer Lime Grilled Chicken from Allrecipes.com

Here is a photo of the plated dish:

Crunchy Bok Choy Slaw

My oh my oh my!! Did I just love this dish!! We had this with our dinner last night. It was full of crunch and flavor, with some tart from the vinegar and sweetness from the carrots. It reminded me of myself - sometimes sweet, and sometimes tart! lol. I found the recipe at cooking.com, who credits ©EatingWell Magazine for the recipe. Click onto the link below for the recipe.

Crunchy Bok Choy Slaw



Whisk vinegar, oil, sugar, mustard and salt in a large bowl until the sugar dissolves. Add bok choy, carrots and scallions; toss to coat with the dressing.

Nectarine Salsa

Well I have been blessed with some very yummy nectarines and was at a loss as to what to do with the excess....then I found this recipe for Nectarine Salsa at MyRecipes.com (they credit Cooking.com for the recipe). It was SO good! A total flavor explosion in your mouth, what with the bite of the jalapeno, the juicy sweetness and the nectarines, and creaminess of the avocado. The cilantro makes it POP to complete the sensation. We had this yesterday, along with Bok Choy Slaw, steamed ears of corn and Grilled Chicken.

Here is the recipe....just click the link below: (I didn't make the chicken kebabs that come with the salsa recipe but it does look tasty!)


Nectarine Salsa

This pairs well with grilled meats.

My Gluten-Free Journey, Day 1

Well, I have been battling with diverticulitis this past week (my first and hopefully LAST bout) and I was really too sick to eat. During this time I decided to try a gluten-free diet once I was able to eat again. Today was that day! I was SO hungry for REAL food that I drove my sick self to the store to shop for what I needed (just that short trip made me break out into a sweat).

I looked online for some gluten-free recipes and I saw a quinoa recipe that looked amazing! I gave it a try and it turned out wonderful! The recipe is in my post below, along with the roasted chicken I made to go along with the quinoa.

I hope I am able to stick with this longer than I did my stab at eating vegetarian! lol.

So that's my story...if any of my readers are gluten-free eaters, I'd love to get some of your recipes to try.

ROASTED CHICKEN (IN THE CROCK POT)

This dish is SO simple and yet, so good. It has such a nice, roasted flavor that you might find it hard to believe it came from the Crock Pot. I don't know where the recipe came from originally, or if it came out of my head lol.

Roasted Chicken in the Crock Pot

1 4 lb roasting chicken, whole
2 carrots, sliced thick
2 celery ribs, sliced thick
2 cups chicken broth
Salt
Garlic powder
Black pepper
Paprika

Cut up veggies and place in bottom of your Crock Pot. Add the chicken broth. Sprinkle salt, garlic powder, pepper and paprika over all sides of the chicken. Place the chicken breast side up in the Crock Pot and cook on high for one hour, and then low for 8 hours…or on high for 6 hours. This was VERY yummy!!!

Lemon Quinoa

I found this dish while on my healthier eating quest. It really has great flavor and you don't miss rice or potatoes when you eat quinoa! Click on the heading below for the link to the recipe from allrecipes.com.

Lemony Quinoa from AllRecipes.com


Toast the pine nuts briefly in a dry skillet over medium heat.

This will take about 5 minutes, and stir constantly as they will burn easily. Set aside to cool. In a saucepan, combine the quinoa, water and salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and cook until quinoa is tender and water has been absorbed, about 10 minutes. Cool slightly, then fluff with a fork. Transfer the quinoa to a serving bowl and stir in the pine nuts, lemon juice, celery, onion, cayenne pepper, cumin and parsley.

Adjust salt and pepper if needed before serving.

This was SO good!!! I was very happy with how it turned out and even hubby would eat it over and over again. 2 forks up!!

Orange Beef

Well, I have been a stranger around here, haven't I? Tonight's recipe is a new one and I hope it will be a hit. My son's girlfriend, Beth, found this recipe...but she couldn't remember where she got it (I actually found it at RachelRayMag.com). Click on the heading below to go to the recipe.

Orange Beef


Place the orange peel and juice in a large bowl. Stir in 1 TBSP olive oil, soy sauce and vinegar. Add the steak and turn to coat.

Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes. In a wok or large skillet, heat 1 TBSP olive oil over high heat.

Using tongs, transfer the meat from the marinade to the wok and cook, turning once, for 5 minutes. Season meat with salt & pepper.

Transfer the meat to a plate. Add the remaining 1/2 TBSP olive oil, garlic and the scallions to the wok and cook over medium heat, stirring until wilted, about 2 minutes.

Transfer to the beef. Pour the marinade into the wok and bring to a boil, then lower the heat and reduce by half.

Whisk in the brown sugar and return the steak and scallions to the wok; turn to coat.

Serve with Cilantro Rice. (I'm actually making Wild Rice with Currants tonight)

Well, we all agreed this was very good and a "do again". Thanks for reading!

Irish Soda Bread

This is the best recipe I have found for Irish Soda Bread! It isn't as dry as some others I have found. I also have been known to add orange zest and dried cranberries instead of currants. I found this recipe at Kraftrecipes.com. Click on the heading below to go to their site for the recipe.

Irish Soda Bread

HEAT oven to 350°. MIX flour, 1/3 cup sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl.
Cut in butter with pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

Add buttermilk and currants; stir just until moistened. PLACE dough on lightly floured surface; knead 10 times. Shape into 2½” thick round.

Place on baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray. Cut deep ½” "X" in top of dough; sprinkle with remaining sugar. BAKE 1 hour or until golden brown. Remove from baking sheet to wire rack; cool completely before cutting into wedges. It was a huge hit at work AND at home when I made it.

Amazing Crusty Bread - SUPER EASY!!

Wow, wow and WOW!! Is this bread ever tasty! The crunch on the exterior is amazing, and then you bite into it and it is soft and chewy on the interior. It is hard to believe it is SO easy to make this bread. It truly does taste like it was made be a professional bread baker! I recently ate dinner at a restaurant and the crust was chewy and hard to bite into...they need this recipe! lol

Crusty Bread from Simplysogood.blogspot.com

3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1¾ tsp salt
½ tsp yeast
1½ cups water

DO NOT OIL OR SPRAY PAN. This bread will NOT stick!! In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, salt and yeast.

Add water and mix until a shaggy mixture forms.

Cover bowl with plastic wrap and set aside for 12 - 18 hours. This is a MUST. Overnight works great.

Heat oven to 450°. When the oven has reached 450° place a cast iron pot with a lid in the oven and heat the pot for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, pour dough onto a heavily floured surface and shape into a ball. Cover with plastic wrap and let set while the pot is heating. Remove hot pot from the oven and drop in the dough. Cover and return to oven for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes remove the lid and bake an additional 15 minutes. Remove bread from oven and place on a cooling rack to cool. This bread is SO amazing and couldn’t be simpler. I made one with orange zest (from one orange), almonds and dried cranberries – so yummy!

My next loaf will be fresh rosemary, garlic & parmesan.
Here are some variations that the blog owner has made: Pepper jack cheese, Jalapeno cheddar, Raisin walnut cinnamon, Pumpkin sunflower poppy seed, Sharp cheddar, Rosemary lemon Gruyere, Lemon thyme Asiago, Asiago, Mixed herb with rosemary, chives and thyme and plain. She experimented using wheat flour and said that whole wheat was WAY too heavy…even with she used just 1 cup of wheat flour. Said it was okay but not great. She uses a 5.5 quart enamel cast iron pot. This size is perfect. She also uses an oval pot that is about 7.5-8 quarts. She was also told that ceramic deep dishes work well. I have been using my Pampered Chef Deep Dish Roaster with the Cover. I was surprised to find the bread pops right out and does not stick!!!