Hearty Fiesta Chili

I was at Sprouts the other day and walked by the meat section, just browsing, longing for some organic grass fed beef. When there is was, Sommers Organic Grass Fed discounted to 2.99 per lb. Manager’s Special (I’m sure the sell by date only being a day away had something to do with it). So I came right home to make the manliest man soup (Second only to beef stew). Seriously, there are not many soups that my husband will consider a full meal. This soup is so hearty and filling. I use anasazi beans because I like the texture and they are less gassy. You can use what ever beans you have on hand. Also might I suggest Muir Glen tomatoes, they are the best canned tomatoes out there, look for them on sale for they can be spendy. My favorite chili powder is made by Frontier Seasonings, it is called “fiesta chili powder” (sounds great, right?) I had tons of peppers on hand this week (Remember 6 for $1?) so I used (lots of) fresh peppers instead of the canned chilies, but I am leaving the recipe as my original because it makes this a great pantry recipe for when my fridge is slim pickin’s. The vinegar is to brighten the tomato flavor, they loose some of their acidity sitting in a can which leads them to tasting tin-y. Oh yeah, and the Kamut can be substituted for the grain of your choice (rice, spelt, wheat, barley) or leave it out. I like my chili served with grated cheese and a big piece of cornbread. Although it has never won our Ward's Chili Cook Off that is held every Halloween, I think it is award worthy. At any rate, I'm sure glad the cold weather is back so that I can enjoy some more soup! BTW my mom won a chili cook off so I have potential.

2 cups anasazi beans
1 cup Kamut
6 cups beef stock
1 lb. ground beef
1 onion, chopped
8 oz. green chilies, diced (canned or fresh)
2 tablespoons. Worcestershire sauce
3 cups crushed tomatoes
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 cup frozen corn
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
Salt

Pressure beans, kamut and stock on high pressure for 30 minutes or simmer for 2 hours. Brown beef, add onions, chilies, Worcestershire sauce, vinegar. Quick release pressure on beans. Add beef mixture, tomatoes and chili powder. Pressure again on high for 10 minutes, natural release. Add corn and salt to taste. Stir in vinegar and if you like a more brothy chili add water.

links; Whole Foods for the Holiday's

Health is More Than Just Food

My main focus here is nutrition, but enjoying good health has more to it than just food. Exercise is so important to maintain health, strength and avoid injuries that can lead to surgery, pain medicines and less exercise. Another side of enjoying good health is avoiding chemicals. Chemicals leach into food from poorly processed plastics, some metals and synthetic non stick coatings on pot and pans.

Chemicals also abound in cleaners from Windex to laundry detergent, bleach to hand soap. How many of you have started to feel nauseous, dizzy or a headache while breathing in fumes while cleaning? These fumes seep through their containers and contaminate the air in our homes. Think you are protecting your child from icky germs by wiping down his highchair with Clorox Disinfecting Wipes? Think again.

Next to cleaners, I am disgusted with the way doctors are trained to use chemicals disguised as medicine to treat every ailment known to man. There are so many natural remedies that are effective without the negative short term and long term side effects. The Enlightened Homemaker is an amazing blog that is dedicated to health as a whole. It’s author, Shari has such passions along the same lines as me. She is an advocate for everything good for you and shares tips, ideas and recipes that she has picked up through the years of raising her family.

While I am going to continue to focus on nutrition, I reserve the right to rant on anything in the nature of health.

Red Pepper Hummus

Hummus is a great dip and spread. It is made of healthy ingredients, not the common sour cream, processed cheeses, sugars and mayonnaise that make up most veggie dips and cracker spreads. Costco has a delicious hummus, but even though it advertises “all natural” on the front of it’s label, it is loaded with preservatives. Iwill use it when time for food preparation is low, but the rest of the time we enjoy this from scratch version. I love to play around with the flavors. Use fresh garlic (not the old stuff that is starting to sprout, which is bitter) the more the garlic is roasted the more mellow the flavor. Raw garlic will give the hummus a really sharp flavor. If you like a sweeter spread, add a bit of honey. If you like more sesame seed flavor, add a teaspoon of dark sesame oil. Some people like more lemon juice or even some zest and some prefer garlic powder to fresh garlic. For a plain hummus, leave out the peppers or get creative and add things like jalapeno, cilantro, pine nuts, olives, sundried tomatoes, basil or just extra garlic.

15 ounce can garbanzo beans
½ cup tahini
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons salt
2 cloves garlic, toasted or 2 teaspoons garlic powder
14 ounce jar roasted red peppers
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Place all ingredients in vita mix or food processor and puree until smooth. Refrigerate to thicken. Serve sprinkled with olive oil and paprika. Serve with vegetables, pita chips, crackers or pita bread.

This post is part of Kitchen Stewardship's October Fest Carnival of Super Foods.

Whole Wheat Pita Pockets

Like tortillas, homemade pita’s are significantly superior to store bought. So tender and light, even whole wheat. Freshness is the key, for breads such as these decrease in quality quickly. The real treat is when they are still warm from the pan. I used to make these in the oven, but found that was unnecessary, a hot pan works even better. The trick is not to roll them too thin, which causes the steam to release and not form the air bubble that leaves a pocket.

2 cups hot water

1 teaspoon honey

1 teaspoon salt
5 cups sprouted  flour
2 tablespoons yeast

In bosch bowl with dough hook place water, sugar, salt, and 3 cups flour with the yeast on top of the flour. Mix on low and slowly add remaining flour just until the dough pulls together and cleans the sides of the bowl. Knead 8 minutes. Divide dough into 4 ounce portions. Roll out to almost 1/2 inch thickness. Let rise for 15 minutes. Cook on a preheated cast iron skillet or other heavy bottom pan that retains heat on medium high. Flip every 30 seconds until both sides are brown, bread should puff up like a balloon while cooking. Cut each round in half, fill pocket with filling of choice like falafel or dip in hummus, baba ganouj or your favorite spinach and artichoke dip.
links; Whole Foods for the Holiday's

Fideo

I love doing this blog because it motivates me to get the recipes floating around in my head down in black and white. Often times we have a great meal and when I go to recreate it it’s not so good. After a couple of failed attempts it becomes lost forever. This creation has been in the back of my head for a while and today I brought it to life.

We had a Café Rio buy one get one free card with unlimited usage for 2008, so we ate there A LOT. Our whole family could have a great meal for about 8 bucks. I did however, get “Café Rio Salad burn-out.” As I started trying different things I came across the Friday special, Fideo – a Mexican pasta. It was good for something different, but there was room for improvement. We haven’t been back since the card expired but this recipe has been brewing.

What’s for lunch? Jarom has Monday’s off which means instead of grazing on vegetables throughout the afternoon, I need to make something substantial. I had leftover carne asada in the fridge from Saturday night’s fajitas. This is another Costco secret. It is called Bill Bailey’s Carne Asada and comes with all the seasoning already on the meat. So you just slice it in strips and it cooks in 3 minutes. Jarom’s friend Jackson has been making this for get-togethers, we always go home talking about how we gorged ourselves on it. Jarom finally got the dish at the Christmas party, that’s one food men can talk and talk about – MEAT. While Jackson grilled his meat which is VERY manly, I prefer to slice it first so as not to burn my delicate hands on hot meat which means I pan fry. I’m also stocked up on vegetables, who can pass up the deals at Superstition Ranch market? 6 for $1 bell peppers! So my fideo recreation was a hit and I have it recorded so we can have it again in the future!

1 lb. brown rice thin spaghetti
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 bell pepper, finely chopped
2 carrots, finely chopped
salt
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons ground cumin
14 oz can diced tomatoes
¼ cup fresh cilantro, chopped (reserve some for garnish if desired)
1/2 lb. carne asada
3 cups Colby jack cheese, shredded
1-2 avocados, diced as garnish
Sour cream as garnish

Boil pasta to al dente, be sure to salt the water (1 tablespoon is good). Drain and set aside. Heat a large fry pan to medium, sautee onions, peppers and carrots 5 minutes. Add salt, garlic, cumin and tomatoes. Transfer to pot with pasta, toss with cilantro and dump into baking dish (2 -9 inch pie dishes). Turn up heat to high and cook 3 minutes, turning the meat for even browning and separating the strips. Arrange meat on top of pasta and cover with cheese. Broil 5 minutes on medium until cheese is bubbly and beginning to brown. Top with garnishes and serve.

Super Wrap

I am always disappointed by the wraps I have had at the many sandwich shops around here. Poor quality ingredients that yield a dry, tasteless, less than healthy snack. After having Roxwell my visiting teacher, Sara, brought us these fabulous wraps to satisfy our appetites. Boy, did they ever! So I called her right up and got the dish so I could replicate. There are these fun flat breads at Costco, hiding by the tortillas called “Flat Out.”

We just spread on some hummus (roasted red pepper), pile on a good heap of spinach, line with tomatoes, onions, peppers, avocado, cheese, chicken, tuna, ham, turkey, bacon…whatever you have on hand. Maybe a little mustard and there you have it, a big package of yum-ness. I wrap the kids’ in foil and have them tear it off as they go to prevent a messy fall-apart. I am not a big fan of cold cuts (ya know UBER processed) I try to stick with the real stuff – most of the time.

Jarom has also used them to make a quick pizza with just sauce and cheese melted in the toaster oven. He says it’s good.

Chicken Pot Pie

This is an easy go-to meal, I always have all the ingredients on hand (except for the fresh parsley which is easily left out.) So tasty. It makes a BIG dish, but you will be surprised how much gets eaten – I always am. This is one of my food storage meals. I keep freeze dried potatoes, onion, celery, carrots and peas in storage. I also have loads of canned chicken and of coarse all the baking supplies plus dried buttermilk powder. That reminds me, I need to can butter…still looking for a good sale on that. The biscuit topping could be replaced with regular pie crust, I just happen to enjoy the biscuits more. Use this recipe with your thanksgiving leftovers. Turkey pot pie is killer!

Biscuit Topping
2 cups sprouted flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon honey
½ teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons cold butter, cut
¾ cup kefir or buttermilk

Mix dry ingredients. Cut in butter. Stir in kefir until dough forms. Form ball and roll out to ½ inch. Cut rounds (or what ever shape you want. Arrange over warm pie filling or bake on a sheet pan at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Note: If leftovers are foreseen or desired, bake biscuits separately to prevent them from getting soggy during refrigeration storage.

1 lb. chicken
2 potatoes, peeled and diced
2 cups chicken stock
1 tablespoon coconut oil
1 large onion, chopped fine
3 large carrots, sliced or julienned
2 celery ribs, chopped
Salt and pepper
½ cup flour
1 ½ cups milk
1 ½ teaspoons herbs de provence
3 tablespoons fresh parsley, minced

Pressure the chicken and potatoes in chicken broth, 5 minutes, or pull meat from a rotisserie chicken. Reserve the stock. Sauté onion, carrots and celery in oil, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add flour and cook for 2 minutes. Add milk, stock, chicken, potatoes and herbs. Stir until smooth and thickened. Add peas and parsley. Taste for salt. Pour into 9x13 pan or divide among smaller pans. Top with biscuit topping or pie crust. Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes (large pan).
links; Whole Foods for the Holidays

In the Season Thereof

It’s no secret I love fresh produce. I will stand at a grocery display of green beans picking out the best of the pile one by one. I don’t buy something just because it is on my list. Here is some of my criteria:

1. smells good
2. firm, no bruising
3. heavy for size
4. good color, no browning
5. crisp, not wilted or wrinkled

I make a grocery list and go shopping with a few meal ideas in mind, but I do not hold myself to them. I roam the produce section and build new meal ideas on what is looking particularly pleasing. Good news is these beauties are most often the items on sale and on display with loads to choose from.

Have you ever noticed when you grow your own produce how long it lasts before it goes bad? A far cry from supermarket specimens that sometimes only have a few days left. I love watching my garden grow and enjoying the crop. Though it is not cost efficient, hard work and time consuming, it is also very gratifying to the deepest part of my soul. This time of year we love to enjoy the abundance of citrus and pecans that fall from Jarom’s grandparent’s trees. My body seems to crave them everyday. Yesterday we planted our own wee little orange tree. We also have a peach tree growing in my garden that grew from a peach pit that got mixed in the compost. So we are looking forward to 10 years from now : )For now I will get the soil ready to plant, pick oranges and pecans at grandpas and leave the watermelon to rot at the store…for now.

Guacamole

I love this stuff, restaurants never give you enough and put so many fillers in it that it tastes mostly like salsa. On a salad, taco or served with chips, I wanna lot of guac! Choosing an avocado is hit and miss sometimes. You can never tell if the center is going to be black or grossly stringy. Unless they are on sale for very cheap (check Fresh and Easy and Superstition Ranch Markets) I just splurge at Costco because if they are yucky, I just put the cut open fruits in a Ziploc and return them for a full refund, no problem.

One thing I wanted to share through posting this recipe is that you don’t always have to go all out all the time, reserve the right to simplify. Sometimes time is of the essence, you need to get a meal out fast or only have a short window to dedicate to meal preparation. Maybe you are short on ingredients, most recipes suffer very little when you leave something out or don’t have as much as is called for. Simple substitutions are allowed too. This time of year I use lemon juice for lime juice, they are so abundant and free that it is not worth keeping limes on hand for their particular pucker. Same goes for fresh herbs, if I have them on hand I find ways to incorporate them, but when they are out of season I use dried or leave them out completely. Most of my recipes have grains in them and can be easily switched out for other grains or left out completely : ( I also try to cram as many vegetables as I can into my casseroles, so if you have to leave a few out, the dish will not be a flop. But do make sure you have an avacado...

Simple
2 medium avocadoes
1 small clove garlic
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon lime juice

Dressed up
2 medium avocadoes
1 small clove garlic
½`teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoon lime juice
1 tomato, chopped
¼ teaspoon cumin
1 tablespoon red onion, finely chopped
1 tablespoon cilantro, chopped

Mash and enjoy.
links; Tasty Tuesday, Hearth and Soul Hop, Tempt My Tummy, Kitchen Tip Tuesday

Harvest Butternut Squash Soup

We are in the heart of soup season. I love getting 3 servings of veggies in one delicious warm-you-up meal. This one is so sweet and creamy, Brik calls it pumpkin pie and prefers it cold, I like to dip focaccia bread in it. This soup also freezes well, so make a double batch for a heat and go meal in the future.

3 pounds butternut squash, halved and seeded
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, cut into large dice
1 pinch sucanat
3 large garlic cloves, thickly sliced
1 large potato, peeled and cubed
1 cup carrots, chopped
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored, and sliced
1 quart chicken stock
1 dash cayenne pepper
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon cinnamon plus some for garnish
salt
½ cup cream
1 cup freeze dried* apples for garnish

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Place the squash halves cut side down on the dish. Bake for about 40 minutes, or until a fork can easily pierce the flesh. Cool slightly, then remove the peel. Set aside. Place oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, and sugar, sauté for a few minutes, add garlic. Pour the chicken broth into the pot. Add the potatoes, carrot, apple and bring to a boil. Pressure for 6 minutes on high. Add the squash, use an immersible hand blender to puree the soup, or transfer to a blender or food processor in batches, and puree until smooth. Return to the pot. Season the soup with cayenne pepper, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt, then stir in cream. Heat through, but do not boil. Ladle into bowls, and top with apples and a sprinkle of cinnamon.

*freeze dried fruits and vegetables are the premium of food storage. They rehydrate quickly and easily, retain most of their nutrients an taste almost as good as their fresh counterparts. They are also great snacks, even for babies. Pick up a can at Preparing Wisely and try them out.

links; Whole Foods for the Holiday's