Creamy Mango-Carrot Smoothie

Another smoothie for you to try. This one is similar in color to the Berry Smoothie due to the blueberries and beets, but the soy milk, banana, and walnuts give it a creamier texture. I made it tonight for my breakfast tomorrow morning, so I am hoping that it stores well. The Berry Smoothie is best enjoyed once it is made, as by the next day the flavor had changed. I think it was because of the kale, but I am not sure.

Creamy Mango-Carrot Smoothie

1 c soy milk
1/2 c carrot juice (get pure carrot juice)
1 banana, broken into pieces
1 beet, washed and cubed
1/2 c frozen blueberries
1 c frozen mango
1 tbsp raw honey
1/2 oz raw walnuts
2 tbsp grated ginger

Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. If it seems a little too thick for your taste, add a little water and blend to mix. Pour into glasses and serve.

Green Salad with Creamy Curry Vinaigrette

I just discovered my new favorite salad. I had some left over chicken breast from some chicken soup I made the other night. I only put the dark meat in the soup, so I had two breasts to use in other meals. I created this salad from things I had around the house (I haven't been purchasing many things lately, mostly due to lack of time).

1/3 c plain yogurt
2 tsp brown rice vinegar
1/2 tsp sugar (or to taste)
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp curry powder
4 to 5 leaves lettuce (torn and washed)
1/2 chicken breast, chopped
1/4 c walnuts, chopped
1 pear, cored and chopped

Mix the yogurt, vinegar, sugar, salt and curry powder together. Let sit while you prepare the other ingredients. Combine lettuce, chicken, walnuts, and pear in a large bowl. Pour on the dressing and toss (or stir carefully if you're kitchen accident prone like me).

I have a suspicion that I would love this salad even more with currants instead of pear, but pears were what I had at the time.

I've also been making orange yogurt by mixing plain yogurt with a spoonful of marmalade. It's delicious (especially if you use full fat yogurt).

I'm mostly settled into my new town, so the possibility of my posting more often will definitely increase. Nothing made me happier than unpacking all of my kitchen things! Well, a few things are still in boxes because I have almost no counter space and it's taking me a while to wash and put away everything. Plus, there isn't enough cabinet space for all of my kitchen stuff. I think my first investment will be a small, movable island for the kitchen. Who cares if I have a huge living room which currently houses 1 chair, 1 coffee table, 1 end table and a ton of boxes of books? I need to cook!

Maple Nut Scones

I've realized that using a Mac with Blogger has its drawbacks. Like not having the option to insert a cool link into my post (that one down below was only acheived because I used a PC that time). Instead you get this: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Restaurant-Quality-Maple-Oatmeal-Scones/Detail.aspx. Not exactly pretty, is it? Nonetheless, this link goes to a great scone recipe that I use regularly, even switching it up and making other flavors. My Gingersnap version is widely appreciated (at least the people at the local lumberyard love it). I do, however, make a few changes and have a few tips, if you should like to make these. First, I don't add the dried cherries, but instead a cup of chopped walnuts. Also, scones are a type of biscuit. I have no idea why so many of their recipes ask you to stir in the extras after mixing in the liquids. That is a quick way to end up with some tough, nasty scones. Instead, stir in any extras (nuts, raisins, poppy seeds) after you've cut in the butter and before you stir in the liquid. Speaking of the liquid, I add an extra splash of buttermilk so that I don't have to stir as much to wet all the ingredients, and I use 1 teaspoon of maple extract, not 1/2 of one. Why, you might ask? Because I am my father's daughter; if 1/2 is good, 1 must be extra good. (But don't tell him that. I enjoy teasing him mercilessly about the fact that if he's sent to the store for one quart of half-and-half, he inevitably comes home with two, "Just in case." This goes for most everything.)

Back to the stirring and preparation of the scones, I find that you should start off by gently folding to incorporate dry and wet ingredients. Then, when it's almost all mixed, I get my hands dirty (and sticky) by gathering the multiple lumps and working in that stubborn bit of dry lingering in the bottom of the bowl by patting the lumps into a large ball and dabbing the damp outside into the lingering dry bits. When you're done, the whole thing should be a moist, somewhat sticky ball. Don't try to pack the ball too tight, though, because you might ruin some of the biscuit structure. Basically, over-mixing is your enemy while making scones. Put a very liberal amount of flour on your counter, do NOT knead the dough as the recipe tries to trick you into doing, and proceed to divide the dough and cut as the recipe tells you. If you put this dough on a lightly floured surface, you WILL be using something to scrape it off. It sticks. But the end result is delicious. Oh, and keep an eye on them the first time you make them. Ovens are finicky appliances, and you don't want to end up with burnt scones. I top mine with a "never the same twice" icing of powdered sugar, dash of salt, maple extract and hot water or coffee. If you make it runny enough (but not so much that it just sinks into the scones), and put it on after they've cooled a bit, it should harden nicely on the outside. I find these store best uncovered, as when they're covered they tend to get sticky. Enjoy!

Never tease a starving person

The other night I went to the gym for an intense aerobic workout (heavy bag, 3 1/5 mile run and 20 minutes on the stationary bike). I would have done some stair climber as well, but my ride had arrived. On the the way home, hunger pangs stabbing, I inquired as to what we were having for dinner. The response? "Leftover pea soup." I love pea soup, but like anything, I don't like eating it repeatedly within a short period of time. The excuse was that mom didn't feel like cooking and he was "lazy." I was angry. I admit it. The result was a less than enthusiastic response when I found out he HAD cooked. I snapped. I'm ashamed. I blame hunger and a not-so-hot day. A sorry excuse I guess.
Now, the family joke is, when dad cooks dinner is one of the following:
Frozen pizza
Grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup
Chicken cacciatore
(and more recently:)
meatloaf
spaghetti

That evening, though, dad had gotten creative. A pork dish reminiscent of Caribbean dishes, asparagus, and (sweet) cornbread. It was delicious. I ate a bit before taking a picture. *sheepish grin* This is how he described making this dish.
He found a recipe for stuffed pork and sort of followed it, but not really. He chopped half of a large onion, an apple and some walnuts. He cooked the pork loin, which he had sliced, in a pan with water. He sauteed the onion, apple and walnuts together and added undefined amounts of sage, marjoram, cinnamon, salt, pepper and honey. The result was a slightly sweet pork dish. It was so good. The asparagus was boiled. The cornbread (from a Land o' Lakes cookbook) was baked. My angry stomach monster was assuaged. Thanks Dad!

Toffee Bars

As promised, the toffee bar recipe. These are fabulous because the crust is sweet, but has a slightly salty quality, and then it's topped with chocolate chips and walnuts. It makes a cookie sheet/jelly roll pan-full. Which either means you have toffee bars for quite a long time, or, if you have ravenous eaters like those housed here, a couple days.

Toffee Bars

1 c butter - softened
1 c brown sugar
1 egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla
2 c flour
1/4 tsp salt
enough chocolate chips to cover (1/2-full bag)
1/2-1 c walnuts, chopped (to preference)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix butter, brown sugar, egg yolk, vanilla, salt and flour.
Spread as evenly as possible onto a cookie sheet.
Bake for 20 minutes.
Sprinkle with chocolate chips and let them melt. (You can keep them in the oven with the door propped open to aid the melting).
Spread the melted chocolate chips over the crust.
Sprinkle with chopped walnuts.
Cut while warm.
These are soft and slightly chewy when warm, but firm and slightly crunchy when cool.

Dessert and my love of it is one of the reasons I have to workout diligently, or risk gaining weight that took forever to lose. :)

Apple Walnut Muffins

I made these this morning. They were very good, though I may add a bit more liquid to them next time, or make sure to remember that the new oven takes less time than the old one to bake most things. Except cornbread. That still takes more time than the cookbook allots. Who knows why. Anyways, here is the recipe, adapted from a sweet muffin recipe in an old cookbook.

Apple Walnut Muffins

1 egg
1/2 c buttermilk
1/4 c oil
1 1/2 c flour
1/2 c sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
just shy of 1 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tart apple, peeled, cored, and diced
1/2 c walnuts, chopped

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Grease 12 to 15 muffin cups. Beat the egg with a whisk until foamy, then slowly beat in the buttermilk and oil. Place flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in the bowl, and fold until mostly moist. Add apple and walnuts, and fold into the batter. Fill muffin cups about 3/4 full and bake for 18 to 25 minutes. Allow to cool in pans for about 5 minutes, then remove (this prevents completely mashing the muffins, which inevitably happens when you try to take them out while hot).