We got kale in our winter shares and I wanted to do something different. So I googled kale and pasta and found a dish with Kale, Bacon and Pasta.  I made it according to the recipe – it was very tasty but next time I am going to add garlic and mushrooms.

1 lb Kale

8 strips of bacon – cut into pieces or use pancetta

1/2 onion minced

1 lb of dried pasta

2 garlic cloves

handle full of sliced mushrooms

1/2 cup of parmesan grated

Cook pasta according to directions. Dice bacon and cook over medium heat.  Remove bacon and saute in onions, mushrooms, and garlic in bacon fat.  Add kale till wilted. Add cooked pasta, toss and finish with parmesan.

4 servings

It’s Zucchini season, here is another tasty way to eat them.

ZUCCHINI CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES (makes about 30 cookies)

1 egg, well beaten

1 stick unslated butter, melted (about 1/2 cup)

1/2 cup brown sugar1/3 cup honey

1 1/2 Tbsp. vanilla extract

1 snack size container of unsweetened applesauce

Combine in large bowl. 1 cup white flour 1 cup whole wheat flour 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/4 tsp cinnamon 1/4 tsp salt 1/4 tsp nutmeg Combine in a separate, small bowl and blend into liquid mixture. 1 finely shredded zucchini 1 pkg (12 oz-ish) chocolate chunks 1/2 cup chopped walnuts Stir these into other ingredients, mix well. Drop by spoonful onto greased baking sheet, and flatten with the back of a spoon. Bake at 350 for 17 minutes.

Source: Animal Vegetable Miracle

This recipe is from my brother’s first wife – Patter.  This week is the first time I have ever made – I love it and my mom has always made it before.   It works great to take on a picnic. Plus if you have ton’s of cucumbers it’s a great way to use them.

4 large cucmbers sliced thin

1 large onion sliced thin

layer in a large covered bowl salting lightly between layers. Cover with water overnight. Turn to mix brine.  Next day: drain the salt brine. Add 1 C of sugar and 1/2 C of water plus a 1/2 C of vinegar. Refrigerate 1 hour and serve.

I originally got this recipe from my mom. She loved to make it and put it on top of rice or pasta. I prefer rice.  I lost my mom’s copy of this recipe but googled for it today and found it — however this version is called Sizzling Garlic Shrimp even though it’s cooked in the oven on broil

Sizzling Garlic Shrimp
1 pound peeled shrimp
1/2 cup olive oil
2 minced garlic cloves
1 teaspoon Italian herb seasoning
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 pint cherry tomatoes
1/2 cup feta cheese, in chunks, not crumbled
Chopped parsley or scallions (optional)

Put a medium oven-proof baking dish under broiler to preheat.

Meanwhile, in medium bowl, mix shrimp in olive oil, garlic cloves, herb seasoning, salt and pepper. Add tomatoes and feta cheese chunks. (Crumbled feta will melt too fast, but is okay if that’s what you have.)
Remove dish from oven, add shrimp mixture and broil until shrimp are just done (about 5 minutes). Sprinkle with chopped parsley or scallions.

Serve with crusty bread for dipping. Serves 3 to 4.

Source: Lennie Bennett, St. Petersburg Times

I found this great article on eating whole unprocessed food for a healthier life. Well actually I didn’t find it – the article was brought to my attention by a FB friend. At anyrate no matter what diet you follow, be vegan, vegeterian, …. or so goes the article from Forbes:

What is the best diet for human beings?

Vegetarian? Vegan? High-protein? Low-fat? Dairy-Free?

Hold on to your shopping carts: There is no perfect diet for human beings. At least not one that’s based on how much protein, fat or carbohydrates you eat.

People have lived and thrived on high-protein, high-fat diets (the Inuit of Greenland); on low-protein, high-carb diets (the indigenous peoples of southern Africa); on diets high in raw milk and cream (the people of the Loetschental Valley in Switzerland); diets high in saturated fat (the Trobriand Islanders) and even on diets in which animal blood is considered a staple (the Massai of Kenya and Tanzania). And folks have thrived on these diets without the ravages of degenerative diseases that are so epidemic in modern life–heart disease, diabetes, obesity, neurodegenerative diseases, osteoporosis and cancer.

Okay this dish was originally suppose to be a Red Flannel Hash that Martha Stewart had on her site. But I didn’t really read the recipe and just started grating beets and potato’s before I realized they should have been cooked first. So ad libbed from there and create my own dish. And OMG it was delish.

Ingredients:

1. bacon
2. beets
3. potato’s – I used red potato’s
4. onion
5. salt & pepper
6. fresh thyme

First  wash, dry and shred beets and potato’s. Chop up the onion. Set aside sprinkle with salt and tablespoon of olive oil.  Fry up the bacon and crumble. Then use some of the bacon grease and fry up the beets, potato’s and onions, sprinkle on the fresh thyme cook till done. The sprinkle on the crumbled bacon and serve. It was a hit.

The other night I needed a good protein meal that didn’t include meat.  I also needed a meal that I could use up ingredients laying around the house or in the freezer.  I found some tuna, and didn’t want to do our stand-by tuna pasta recipe, as tasty as that is. I wasn’t in the mood for pasta. So after a google search – I stumbled onto this recipe.  This recipe is so good and easy that my husband continues to rave about it till we finished it up tonight.

This delicious tuna pie is made with tuna, homemade creamy sauce, mixed vegetables, seasoning, and pastry.

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 to 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic and herb seasoning blend or dash garlic and dried parsley
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika
• dash dried thyme, crumbled
• 2 cups milk
• 1 large can (12 ounces) tuna, drained and flaked, or 2 small (6 to 7 ounce) cans
• 2 cups frozen mixed vegetables, thawed
• 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
• pastry for single 9-inch pie

Preparation:

In a large saucepan melt butter; add onion and cook over medium-low heat until tender. Blend in flour. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt, the pepper, herb seasoning blend, paprika, and thyme. Gradually add the milk, stirring constantly. Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture is bubbling and thickened. Fold in the tuna, vegetables, Worcestershire sauce, and cheese. Taste and add more salt and seasoning if necessary. Pour mixture into a 2-quart baking dish.Preheat oven to 425°. Roll out pastry to fit top of baking dish. (I didn’t have frozen/refrigerated pastry dough, so I made it with whole wheat flour) With a sharp knife, cut several slits in the top crust. Place pastry on the baking dish; flute edges. Place the baking dish on a baking sheet in the oven. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until crust is browned and mixture is bubbly. Serves 4 to 6.

I generally don’t cook crock pot meals. Not sure why, maybe because I haven’t really found any that know my socks off – until last week. I got a broiler from the farm. But I wasn’t going to be around to cook it in the oven, needed to pick Nat up from camp, do our turn at the milk run to the farm. So I looked for crock pot way to cook the chicken.  I found a wonderful recipe – which I tweaked a little to fit our purposes and spices available at the time.

Whole Chicken in a Crock Pot

This made fall of the bone good chicken. We used the left overs for many other meals during that week.

Ingredients

• 4 teaspoons salt
• 2 teaspoons paprika
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 large roasting chicken/broiler
• 1 cup onion, chopped (optional)

Directions

1. In a small bowl, combine the spices.
2. Remove any giblets from chicken and clean chicken.
3. Rub spice mixture onto the chicken.
4. Place in resealable plastic bag and refrigerate overnight. (I skipped this step because I didn’t think of doing the chicken until that morning – but I did refrigerate it for 3 hours).
5. When ready to cook, put chopped onion in bottom of crock pot.
6. Add chicken. No liquid is needed, the chicken will make it’s own juices.
7. Cook on low 4-8 hours.

I decided to try this recipe from Hungry Monkey – a book that I have yet to find it at the library.  Soon I imagine soon. I didn’t follow it exactly because I couldn’t find hot bean paste, but I did have red curry bean paste in the fridge so  I substituted that. I also substituted regular soy sause for the dark soy. It was still tasty.

Ants on a Tree – Source Hungry Monkey

8 ounces ground pork – I used ground pork sausage
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon hot bean paste – I used red curry paste
1 teaspoon cornstarch – forgot this.
6-8 ounces cellophane noodles
2 tablespoons peanut oil
2 scallions, white and light green parts only, thinly sliced
1 red jalapeno or Fresno chile, seeded and minced – I used a Serrano Chile
1/2 cup chicken stock
1 tablespoon dark soy sauce – regular soy
1/4 teaspoon ground Szechuan peppercorns (optional) – left out

1. In a medium bowl, combine pork with regular soy sauce, sugar, hot bean paste, and cornstarch. Refrigerate 20 minutes.

2. Place noodles in a large bowl and pour boiling water over to cover. Soak 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, and drain in a colander.

3. Heat oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet or a wok over medium-high heat. Add the scallions and jalapeno and cook 30 seconds, stirring frequently. Add the pork and stir-fry until no longer pink, breaking up any chunks, about 3 minutes.

4. Add the noodles, chicken stock, and soy sauce.  Cook, tossing the noodles with two wooden spoons, until the sauce is absorbed and pork is well distributed throughout the noodles. Transfer to a large platter and serve immediately.

Tonight’s meal was refrigerator review. The name of this meal comes from my mother’s friend – it sounds alot better than left overs. We had a smidge of this and that. One of those things was spinach from Organics at Your Door.  I also had an over abundance of cream from our farmer. Hence the creamed spinach. I used this recipe as a guide – in that I sauted green onions and garlic in butter, threw in the spinach, cream and parmesan cheese – added salt and pepper to taste. And mmm mmm good. We both loved it!!