VEGETARIAN BLISS

FRESH DANDELION GREENS ~ CLEANED AND READY TO EAT!

It's been a meatless week here on the farm. I made a delicious quinoa casserole the other night and stuffed in into acorn squash halves and baked them until golden brown. It was delicious and so healthy. Very little fat, and lots of protein and nutrients. Tonight I enjoyed a helping of sauteed kale. I first sauteed onion, fresh garlic and ginger, and added rice vinegar and a touch of balsamic at the end. Kale is another power packed food that is so good for you. I had a veggie burger along side the kale. The guys had grilled brats and pasta salad.

If you would like to try the quinoa casserole here is how I made it. First cook 1 c. of quinoa in 2 c. water until water is absorbed. Saute 2 diced carrots, some mushrooms and onion until slightly cooked. Add this to the quionoa along with 1 c. peas and 1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese. The recipe calls for 1 c. milk and 1 c. sour cream. I didn't want it to be too 'soupy' so I skipped the milk. I would normally use yogurt, but I had some sour cream to used up in the fridge so I used that. After cooking the squash for 1/2 hour at 350 upside down on parchment paper, I turned it over and added the casserole to the squash and topped with a small amount of cheese. To conserve on the fat content the cheese could be omitted.

I then returned it to the oven for another 15 minutes or so. It was hearty and delicious!

This weekend I'll cook a dish of dandelion. My dad would always go out this time of the year and dig a big bunch of greens and call me and say "I have dandelion, will you come cook them for us?" My mom was a great cook, but for some reason he would call me and ask me this. I think it was because he knew how much I liked eating them! I make a sour sauce and add some bacon for flavor. Of course, this is not a meatless dish, but it's packed with goodness. Dandelions are very good for your liver and gall bladder. In fact, friends of ours have parakeets that had a liver condition and they were prescribed dandelion root to give the birds! Interesting, huh!

We don't use fertilizer on our lawn and don't have dogs anymore, so we are safe to just go out in the yard and dig these. This is a sure sign that spring is here!

FORKS OVER KNIVES

PAREMESAN RISOTTO WITH MUSHROOMS AND SPRING ASPARAGUS

This was our Meatless Monday dish this week. Risotto is such a delicious  meal. It's heartier than a regular rice dish so it's perfect for MM because it's filling. Richard wanted something more than the risotto so he also had a couple of bean burritos from the left-overs in the fridge.  I was so afraid to give risotto a try the first time, but once you try it you will wonder why? I guess the only drawback is that it does take some attention. While it's cooking you do need to stir it to keep it from sticking, but if you have everything else ready to go and do the risotto last, the time goes by quickly.  You'll want to serve it as soon as it's done. It takes about 20 minutes or so.

You may be wondering what the title of this blog refers to?? Well, I just heard about another 'foodie' type movie coming out. It's called Forks Over Knives and will be featured on the Dr. Oz show today. I found out about it on FB through one of my groups. I normally don't watch Dr. Oz but I may try to today.  The title refers to  the choice of 'plant protein' vs. 'animal protein' in our diets.  There are several clips on you tube about the subject along with a few trailers of the movie if you are interested. 

I can easily be a vegetarian, but I'm not sure I could go to a vegan diet. I like eggs! I think that we sometimes forget to take baby steps. It's easy to fall off the wagon when  making DRAMATIC choices, but it's much easier to make small changes that can last a lifetime. We've cut back dramatically in our meat consumption, but this new information drives me to include meatless meals as many days of the week as possible. 

I say that, but also think about the big ol HAM in my freezer that I purchased last week because it was on sale and we like ham!!! Once again, I think moderation is as important as anything. My family is not ready to become vegetarians (my daughter already is) even though I might be. Grilling season is upon us and already my 'guys' are talking burgers and brats!

Just thought I'd mention that movie and see if anyone else has heard any 'buzz' about it and what your thoughts are?

Here is my latest fun craft project! I made it last night while watching TV. It cost me a total of $0! I had a large box of butcher paper on hand from when my parents closed down their home. I knew that someday I'd find a use for it. I have so much of it I think I'll make a few more of these to give away!! The white is a nice 'springtime' touch!

STEP 1: TEAR OFF A LONG PIECE OF PAPER AND SCRUNCH IT UP INTO A WREATH FORM

CUT OUT MANY CIRCLES. THEY DON'T HAVE TO BE EXACT. MAKE THREE SIZES.

AFTER SCRUNCHING UP ALL THE PIECES, USE YOUR GLUE GUN TO LAYER SM/MD/LG. TEAR OFF A SMALL PIECE OF PAPER AND FORM INTO A BALL AND GLUE TO THE MIDDLE OF THE BLOSSOM.

GLUE THEM TO THE WREATH AND ADD LEAVES EVERY SO OFTEN. CUT OUT A LEAF FORM, SCRUNCH PAPER, THEN PINCH ONE END TOGETHER BEFORE GLUING.

MEATLESS MONDAY - ZITI

One of our favorite meatless dishes is baked ziti.  Once in a while I make this dish and add 1/4 pound of proscuitto.  I chop it up and stir it into the dish. It's delicious either way!  This is a very easy dish to prepare. In fact, I think it would be possible for a child to make this with a little supervision!



BAKED ZITI

In a 9x13 baking dish that has been sprayed with cooking oil, combine the following ingredients:

8 oz. ricotta

1 tsp. salt

2 c. ziti ( I sometimes use mini ziti)

1  jar of your favorite marinara sauce

(I use my own homemade sauce - 1 quart)

3 c. water

Stir all ingredients to combine and top with 2 c. mozarella cheese.

Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 40 minutes.

Remove foil and bake another 10 minutes.

Adjust your baking time according to how hot your over is.

The casserole is done when the liquid is absorbed.

Remember: if you want to add a little meat flavor,

add 1/4 lb. chopped proscuitto.

APRIL SHOWERS BRING MAY FLOWERS AND GARDENING!!

What I am looking forward to! This is one of my favorite garden photos.

Sorry I have been quiet the past couple of weeks. We are in the middle of a big remodel or redo of our living/dining room and once that is done, we will start on the kitchen. We're getting all new floors, new painted walls, window treatments, and new cupboards and counters in the kitchen.  We've lived here for 20+ years now with very few improvements so it is past due! 

We've lived in apartments, duplexes, huge farmhouses, and this little 'cottage'. It's a small unassuming house, but we like it here. The size suits us, especially now that the kids are grown. We have one tiny bathroom and it was quite a challenge when we had 2 teens in the house, but we managed.  Contentment is a way of life for us. Living simply and being happy have always been our pursuits. It was not uncommon for visitors to comment that our home felt peaceful. 

There were certainly times when we had stress and peace seemed far off, but for the most part, we have been happy here, raising our family and enjoying country life! Gardening has always been a part of our lives. Richard was an avid gardener when I met him. He owned a garden tiller...when other 20 year olds own hot rods! We've been married almost 37 years and only a few years ago he had to replace that garden tiller with a new one! It served us well.

Once again, we are nearing planting and tilling time. Hopefully the painting and flooring will be in the living room before that happens. We are planning to wait to start the kitchen until the weather gets warm enough for us to do our cooking on the deck. All the appliances will have to be removed from the kitchen and it won't be an overnight project! Richard is building the cabinets himself. He did that years ago in a house we lived in and they were beautiful. He's talented like that!

I'm looking forward to the challenge of no stove and cooking on the grill! It should provide lots of opportunity for creative cooking! I can't wait to show you the kitchen when it's done. I'll post pictures to update on our progress as we go along. OOPS...I posted the 'after' pic and then the 'before'!

After tearing out the old, stained, cruddy carpet and painting over the red walls. The door has not been painted. I'm not sure what color I'm going to piant it yet! The paint is called 'shell flower'. When the sun shines in the room it's pretty yellow...will take some getting used to!!

Before: living/ dining room. RED walls...We used tinted primer and it only took one coat to cover after the primer! Behr paint from Home Depot!!

All winter we don't buy tomatoes for salad. We keep eating salad but I just can't stand those winter tomatoes that taste like cardboard! This weekend there were Florida tomatoes at the grocery and they taste so good! I broke down and bought some and will have them for dinner tomorrwo in a taco salad. I wish I could only eat local food, but living in NW Ohio just doesn't provide that oppportunity. So, we just do the best we can to eat in a consciuos way, and will soon be enjoying our own lettuce, spinach, arugala, scallions, kohlrabi, asparagus, and pea pods...straight from the garden! Those are the first things we will harvest.  I can't wait!

Are you gardening??

MEATLESS MONDAY PASTA



I read more and more about the advantages of eating meatless. Yes, there are environmental benefits, which are important to me, but the health benefits are very impressive!  It's the main reason I am drawn more to a vegetarian diet. Our daughter is a strict vegetarian and her husband and daughter are not. They've worked out a system that works well for them so that they're all happy with what they eat. Fortunate for me, Richard is happy eating vegetarian for the most part so I don't have to cook two meals! He likes his occasional hot dog or burger, but rarely requests a 'meat' meal.

I'm convinced that the reason is the delicious meat-free meals we cook and eat.  We just don't miss meat!  The dish we had last night is a great example.  Pasta is Richard's favorite food and making a meatless pasta dish is quite easy.  Pasta is pretty much a blank slate and takes well to almost any ingredients  you have on hand to add to it. 

Last week I cooked up a large batch of garbanzo beans and froze some. I thawed out the frozen chick peas to use in the pasta dish. Last summer I made and froze a lot of fresh pesto and I also thawed a jar of this out to use in the dish.  Sweet red peppers were on sale this week so I chopped one up along with an onion and about 8 baby bella mushrooms.  I sauteed the mushrooms and veggies, and then added the beans and about 1/4 c. pesto along with 1/2 c. of the pasta water.  Rigatoni was my pasta of choice and it was perfect for this dish. The 'sauce' clung to the pasta tubes.  The beans and mushrooms gave the pasta a hearty flavor.  We didn't miss the meat and it was healthier for us!

We have a good friend who is at a clinic for cancer treatment.  This clinic is out of the country and this is what the doctor at the clinic has to say:

God gave us an immune system to fight invaders and disease - if it is strong it will ward off all diseases.  Second, the American diet tends to cause people to be acidic and an acid environment supports and promotes disease.  It is better to be alkali.  An Alkaline environment kills disease.  So vegetables and fresh fruits promote and alkaline environment.  He wants his patients to be on a vegetarian diet.

I thought this was interesting information and it could (?) be why one of the benefits mentioned of a diet high is fruits and vegetables reduces cancer risk.

So, that is my story for today. We're happy to see more signs of spring every day. I love the sound of frogs in the springtime. The grass is beginning to green up and many trees and bushes have begun to bud. My lilac is looking like it will be full of blossoms this year along with the forsythia. I can't wait!

MEATLESS MONDAY : DAHL, CHAPATIS, AND RAITA

CHAPATIS, DAHL, AND RAITA

In 1976, when I was pregnant with our first child, a friend of mine and her husband came to our house to cook dinner for us. My friend has met her husband in the Peace Corps.  He was born in Pakistan and moved here from Bahrain if I remember correctly. He wanted to cook a dish from his country and it just happened that I was overdue to deliver our daughter and was happy to have someone do the cooking for us.  Just hours after eating this dish I went into labor and delivered Leah the next day! 

Dahl is a curried lentil dish. It has curry powder, turmeric, and lots of garlic in it. The lentils are cooked into a sort of mushy consistency, making them easy to scoop up with the chapatis. Chapatis are like whole wheat tortillas. They're very easy to make and not only delicious, but good for you! I also made a side dish of raita to compliment the spicy curry dish.  Raita is just grated cucumber, yogurt, lemon, salt, green onions, and toasted and ground cumin.

To eat this dish, just tear a small piece of the chapati off and use it to scoop up some of the dahl and a bit of the raita. It's a very easy dish to make and a healthy choice to add to your menu!  The picture above does not do the dish justice. It does have a deep green, golden color from the curry and turmeric powders. We've made this dish many times since that first time over 35 years ago!! It's a perfect meatless dish!



MEATLESS MONDAY = FALAFEL!

I like Middle Eastern foods, especially falafel served in a pita. We don't have it often, but I've always wanted to be able to make it but the recipes always sound so difficult. Recently, I saw a cooking show that featured falafel and it looked easy enough that I decided to try it for this week's Meatless Monday dish.  I'm so glad I did!

I started by cooking my own chick peas from dry beans. They are so much better than canned, but you could also used canned if you don't want to take the time to cook them.  They do take quite a while to cook. The mixture is filled with spices and herbs, lemon juice, and sauteed red pepper and onion.  Once the dough has chilled to set up a bit, it's dropped into hot oil and you make it into little football shapes something like a fritter.  It's then place in a pita pocket or I used flat bread, along with a tahini yogurt sauce, cucumber slices and lettuce.  Eat it like a burrito, rolled up with the ingredients inside the bread.

My daughter is a vegetarian and she likes falafel, too, so after we had our dinner, I made a fresh batch for her, made up a falafel roll for her and took it to her.  Later she called and said I now have a standing order for one if I should make it again! I'm sure I'll make it again. It turned out really great, and was not hard to do.  Garbanzo beans are full of wonderful goodness and nutrients and by keeping the oil at the right temperature there is very little absorbed into the fritters so it's also a very healthy meal. Here are a few pictures of what they look like!

Making the little flalfels using two tablespoons to form little football shapes called quinelles

After deep frying...golden brown and crispy

Don't start fying until the oil is at 375 degrees, and don't let it drop below 350 to keep the oil from soaking into the falafel

Wheat flat bread with flax, two lettuce leaves, yogurt tahini sauce, cucumber slices, falafel all rolled up like a burrito. Healthy, vegetarian, and so delicious!!