Feel Good About Yourself Breakfast Quinoa

In this new year, I am trying to better control my caloric and sugar intake.  I partook too much over the holidays and I wasn't feeling great physically, so I decided it was time to be more intentional.

However, that doesn't mean I don't enjoy food.  For example, last night we went to friends' house for supper and I took dessert.  I had been craving Chocolate Bread Pudding so that's what I made.  As I poured 2 c of heavy cream and 2 c of whole milk (not lowfat or nonfat the recipe specifically said), I cringed, imagining what this would do to my daily sugar intake, especially when I knew I was going to top this with Bourbon Pecan Caramel Sauce.

Oh, did I enjoy that bread pudding.  It was so incredible.  I suspect I'll dream about it for awhile.  I left a great deal of the leftovers with my pregnant friend, so I wouldn't need to finish all of it myself, because I would.  And I would have totally enjoyed it too.

However, this morning I wanted something that would make me feel more nutritionally good about myself.  I needed something to help get me back on the straight and narrow, food wise.

This was my answer.  I found it on 101cookbooks.com--the food blog for people who love food and want to eat more healthily.  I must admit, I didn't love this recipe when I had it.  A little salt helped a bit.  What won me over though was the fact that 3 hours after breakfast I wasn't hungry.  That did wonders for the recipe and convinced me to make it again.

This will serve 2 (which is enough for that because the kids aren't impressed).

Breakfast Quinoa
from 101cookbooks.com

1/2 c milk
1/2 c water
1/2 c quinoa (red, black, white, doesn't matter)
1/4 t cinnamon
1 c fresh or frozen berries (of course fresh is best, but in January, frozen will do)
1/4 c chopped pecans, toasted if desired
dash of salt
2 t honey or agave nectar (optional--I left this off my accident and didn't miss it at all)

In a small saucepan, bring water, milk, and quinoa to a boil.  Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 15 minutes or until the quinoa has absorbed the liquid.  While the quinoa cooks, toast the pecans in a preheated 325 degrees over for 5 or so minutes, until the pecans are fragrant.  Remove from heat and stir in the cinnamon and berries (if you are using frozen berries, you may put it over low heat to keep the quinoa from becoming cold from the frozen berries).  Sprinkle with toasted pecans.  Feel good about yourself for the morning

Strawberry Rhubarb Coffee Cake

As I mentioned earlier, I've checked some cookbooks out of the library. My favorite is The Williams-Sonoma Baking Book--maybe this is because baking is my not-so secret weakness. Since I have the cookbooks on a short loan, I perused them and marked them with bookmarks for the recipes I want to try.

I must admit, I didn't use local strawberries for this. They were from Texas (Whole Paycheck had Texas grown strawberries), but weren't as sweet as those I picked a couple of weeks ago. I just couldn't gather up the initiative to drive an hour and corral three children to pick strawberries. Forgive me. The rhubarb was grown locally though. I bought several stalks of rhubarb at least 3 years at Boggy Creek Farmstand which I had sliced and frozen. The container had been lurking in my freezer waiting for a recipe just like this. The best part was that there is enough rhubarb left for at least one more cake.

This worked perfectly. I mixed this cake up, gently placed it in the oven, and headed out on a 17 mile bike ride. When I got home, the cake was done (and almost half eaten by the 4 people I left at home). It went perfectly with the hot coffee that was waiting for me. It was a wonderful Saturday morning breakfast! (And the small leftovers were pretty good Sunday morning too!).

Strawberry-Rhubarb Breakfast Cake
from The Williams-Sonoma Baking Book

2 T sugar
1/2 t cinnamon

4 lg eggs
1 1/3 c sugar
3/4 c canola oil
3 c flour
2 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
2 t cinnamon
1 t slat
4 c (1 lb) fresh strawberries, hulled and coarsely chopped
1 - 2 stalks (4 oz) fresh rhubarb, cut crosswise into 1/2" slices or 1 c thawed, frozen, sliced rhubarb

In a small bowl mix together 2 T sugar and 1/2 t cinnamon. Set aside.

Beat together the eggs and sugar in a large bowl in an electric mixer on medium-high speed. Add the oil and beat until thick and pale, about 2 minutes. In another bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Add to the egg mixture and mix on low speed or with a wooden spoon until thoroughly blended, about 1 minute. Gently fold in the strawberries (and their juice) and the rhubarb using a silicon spatula. Take care not to break up the fruit. Do not over mix. Pour batter into greased 9" angel food cake pan with removable bottom. Evenly sprinkle reserved cinnamon-sugar mixture over top. Bake in preheated 350 degrees oven for 60 - 70 minutes, or until topping is golden brown and tester inserted into center of cake comes out clean. Remove from sides of pan immediately and place on wire rack to cool completely. Once cool, remove bottom of pan. Place cake upright (not inverted) on a serving plate.

Frozen Jeff

This is really one of those recipes I should have renamed. The name does nothing for me. Except that I like it and it makes me smile whenever I think of it. For that reason alone, the name stands.

We are rediscovering smoothies in our house. A couple of weeks ago, I was in a clean-out-the- freezer binge and found some old frozen berries (store bought). I decided it was a good day for a smoothie day and the kids definitely didn't argue. Then when I was looking for recipes for a carrot salad to make to take the JBG Potluck (which I promptly forgot to make), I found Frozen Jeff.

Frozen Jeff isn't quite a smoothie, but still a blender drink. It isn't quite as thick as a smoothie or Orange Julius type drink. Because of the crushed ice though, it does have a little bit of bulk though, just not to smoothie quality. We all loved this drink, so much that I made it two days in a row (until all our freshly picked strawberries were gone). These proportions will make 4 not huge servings.

Frozen Jeff
slightly adapted from Moosewood Restaurant New Classics

2 c orange juice
6 or 7 fresh strawberries, rinsed and stemmed
2 T fresh lime jiuce
1/2 t vanilla
2 T sugar
1 - 2 c ice (I like 2 c or even more of ice. Just add until you get desired consistency)

Combine all ingredients except ice in a blender. Whirl until strawberries are well blended with orange juice. Add ice and puree until smooth (adding as much ice as you want to achieve your desired consistency). Put in fun cups, sit outside, and enjoy spring.

Strawberry Mascarpone Tart

It's official everyone! The strawberry fields at Sweet Berry Farms in Marble Falls are officially open. Since I've been hankering (to put it mildly) for fresh strawberries for about a month, we headed out the second day the farm was open. Sure enough, as soon as we got there, it started raining. The above picture is exactly how muddy one mother and two children (who didn't even pick any strawberries) can get while picking strawberries. (Curtis and little I stayed in the car during the rain shower). After having our shoes get stuck in the mud, we abandoned them at the end of a row and picked in barefeet. It was glorious.

We picked about 15 pounds worth of berries. I had absolutely no plans on making strawberry freezer jam--Easter weekend is too hectic to throw jam in the mix as well, even if the jam is incredibly simple to make. We ate homemade strawberry shortcake for breakfast Saturday morning and oodles of just plain strawberries. We gave some berries away to neighbors. About 2 pounds were set aside for a Strawberry Mascarpone Tart.

I am looking for the perfect strawberry dessert. Curtis pointed out it doesn't get much better than homemade strawberry ice cream or strawberry shortcake. I need a dessert with a crust. I am not in love with the strawberry pie recipe I've made. Only way I like it is if my mom makes it. She's 1500 miles or so away, so that's not happening. I think this recipe comes pretty close. It's not overly sweet. The mascarpone cheese is subtle and not too rich. The strawberries can shine.

I attempted a non-alcoholic version of the glaze and failed miserably. Next time I'll either make the Port glaze or leave it off entirely. The strawberry juice by itself was too thin and ran off the tart onto the cake stand and thus into the crust--not exactly what I was after.

Strawberry Mascarpone Tart
from Gourmet

For the shell:
1 1/4 c flour
3 T sugar
fat 1/4 t salt
7 T butter, cut into 1/2" pieces
1 large egg yolk
1/2 t vanilla extract
1/2 t fresh lemon juice
3 T cold water

For the filling:
1 1/2 lbs strawberries, trimmed and halved lengthwise
1/3 c sugar
3/4 c ruby Port (optional)
1 lb mascarpone
1/4 c confectioners sugar
1 t fresh lemon juice
1/2 t grated lemon zest
3/4 t vanilla extract

To make the tart shell: Blend together the flour, sugar, salt, and butter in a bowl with a pastry blender (or your finger tips or pulse in a food processor---many options!) just until the mixture resembles coarse meal with some roughly pea-sized butter lumps. Beat together yolk, vanilla, lemon juice and water with a fork, then drizzle over flour mixture and stir with a fork (or pulse) until mixture comes together. (You can add some more water if absolutely necessary to get the dough to hold together). Knead gently with floured hands on lightly floured surface until dough forms, then gently knead 4 - 5 more times. Press into 5" disk. Place in center of tart pan and cover with plastic wrap. Using your fingers, spread and push dough to evenly cover bottom and side of 10" fluted tart pan with removable bottom. Pick bottom of tart shell all over with a fork and freeze until firm, about 10 minutes.

Remove from freezer and line tart shell with foil and fill with pie weights. Bake in a preheated 375 degrees oven until side is set and edge is pale golden, about 20 minutes. Carefully remove foil and weights and continue to bake until shell is deep golden all over, about 20 minutes more. Cool in pan about 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the filling. Stir together the strawberries and granulated sugar in a bowl and let stand, stirring occasionally, 30 minutes. Strain in sieve set over a small saucepan, reserving berries. If using port glaze, add port to liquid in saucepan and boil until reduced 1/4 c, 10 - 15 minutes. Transfer to a small bowl and cool slightly. Meanwhile, whisk together the mascarpone, confectioners sugar, lemon juice, zest, vanilla, and a pinch of salt until stiff.

To assemble the tart, spread mascarpone mixture evenly in cooled tart shell, then top with strawberries. Drizzle port glaze all over tart (if using).

Easy Sunday Supper

Sunday suppers are one of two things---super easy or enough to feed an army so we have leftovers for the week. Tonight we went with super easy because I didn't feel like cooking and because we had a big lunch. The supper? Sandwiches, salad, and strawberries. Curtis and I had egg salad, resting on a bed of baby arugula and nestled between two pieces of toasted challah bread. The kids had PB&J because I didn't really want to encourage them to eat something I didn't want to share with them (plus they love PB&J so they were happy). I also pulled out some carrots I had in the fridge and some strawberries I had sliced for waffles this morning. I didn't have a lot of the ingredients I needed for the egg salad and I halved the recipe because I didn't want to use all our eggs for supper, but it was still great. I left out the basil, celery, and red bell pepper.

Egg Salad
8 eggs
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 c red bell pepper, minced
3 T fresh basil, minced
2 T pine nuts, roasted
1/4 c celery, diced
1/4 c mayonnaise
1 t red wine vinegar
1/2 t salt
black pepper, to taste

Place the eggs in a saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil and then lower heat and simmer about 10 minutes. While the eggs cook, combine the remaining ingredients in a bowl. Submerge the cooked eggs in cold water and crack the shells to facilitate peeling (rolling the eggs gently on the counter helps a lot--older eggs also peel easier than just laid eggs). Peel the eggs as soon as they are cool enough to handle and transfer to a medium bowl. Mas the eggs with a pastry blender, potato masher, or fork. Add the remaining ingredients. Stir everything gently to combine and serve.

Strawberry Vinaigrette
1 c strawberries, sliced
4 t rice vinegar
4 t lemon juice
1 T sugar
1 1/2 t honey
1/4 t salt
1/8 t each garlic powder, onion powder, dried basil leaves, dried parsley flakes, pepper (all or any combination--I used garlic powder and fresh parsley I think)
1/4 c olive oil

Puree strawberries in a food processor or blender. Add remaining ingredients except oil. Blend, then gradually add oil while blending on low speed. Serve over salad and store in the refrigerator.

Strawberry Shortcake

Tuesday night's dinner was strawberry shortcake. I needed to use some of the strawberries and this was a classic when I was a kid. Curtis still is a little unsure about a shortcake as a main course, but I am working on convincing him. I didn't eat with the family last night and was looking forward to strawberry shortcake for breakfast (it has milk on it, which also makes it a breakfast food!). However, there was just a taste left when I got home. That meant that I had to take the time to bake this morning so I could enjoy strawberry shortcake. It was worth all the very short amount of time it took. The shortcake is more like a slightly sweet biscuit than a cake. My mom's family pairs fruit with a bread and milk in lots of different combinations to make a meal (and the men they marry are always wary of the combination at first). This is my favorite strawberry season meal.

Strawberry Shortcake
2 c flour
3 T sugar
3 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
6 T butter
1 egg, beaten
2/3 c milk

Stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. With a pastry blender/cutter-thing (the name is escaping me at the moment). Cut in butter until crumbly. Combine egg and milk in a measuring cup, then add all at once, stirring just until moistened. Spread into greased 9" round cake pan. Bake in preheated 350 oven for 18 - 25 minutes. Serve topped with fresh strawberries (or any other berries) and milk (or whipped cream if it's a dessert).

Strawberry Freezer Jam

There are a couple of very different methods of making strawberry freezer jam. The first way is what my grandmother would consider the real way (and the only way that really garners the respect of having made jam) involves cooking berries, lots of stirring, and lots of time. The second way involves fruit pectin and takes about 30 minutes to make, most of the time being spent on cutting the tops off the berries. I make my jam the second way----easy enough I made a batch this morning before making pancakes with fresh strawberries on top and taking the kids to preschool.

To make the quick freezer jam, you need only a handful things and no special tools, except for jars to put the jam in. In my better times, I save jars and lids throughout the year so I don't need to buy any jars. However, in the midst of the move this year, lots and lots of lids got thrown out. I have many interesting looking jars and no lids to match them. If this is your case, or you have no lids, period, you can buy jars at the grocery store. Most grocery stores have tucked away, usually close to the vinegar and on an upper shelf, out of normal view, Mason or Ball 1/2 pint jars, which I find work best for jam.

The most accurate way to make the jam is to buy a box of Sure-Jell or other type of fruit pectin. (To learn more about fruit pectin, click here to read a wikipedia article on it. It is a naturally occurring plant substance). There is a powder form and a liquid form (called Certo by Sure-Jell). On the back of the box, it will tell you exactly what ingredients you need. For the powder, all you need is a lot of sugar, berries, water and the pectin. If you get the Certo, you will also need lemon juice in addition to the ingredients for the powder form. Follow the directions exactly so the jam gels correctly. For 2 c of crushed berries (I use a food processor and try not to puree them, but leave chunks so it is actually jam), you need 4 c of sugar. This is the reason people tend to shy away from fruit pectin as a thickener (vs. cooking to thicken). However, you can buy boxes of Less Sugar fruit pectin which lets you use less sugar. If you use less sugar with regular fruit pectin, you could end up with strawberry syrup instead of strawberry jam. One batch makes 4 half pint jars.

The method varies slightly between the liquid and powder form, but both ways are equally easy. Last year I froze approximately 24 half pints of jam and we used most of it over the year. I know I could have given it as gifts to my in-laws, but by Christmas, I was wondering if we would have enough to make it until the start of strawberry season (we did).

We don't buy much jam in our house, unless we need some raspberry or blackberry jam for a recipe. However, this year, I hope to tackle blackberry jam as well. We'll see about that.

It Finally Happened or How my Daughter Made her Own Snack

As I was neglecting my children this morning (not really, they were watching Curious George on PBS), I discovered the strawberry patch was officially opened for business starting today. As you probably have been able to tell, I have been totally jonesing for some strawberries....serious cravings. I enjoyed the citrus of the winter, but since it is now spring in Central Texas, I need strawberries. I was relieved that no playgroup got planned this week, sped up the morning routine and told the kids we were going to pick strawberries.

M was quite excited. She remembered picking strawberries from last year. J was just happy to go somewhere in the car (he is so much like a little puppy!). We made the hour plus drive to the Marble Falls Farm (the one in Lexington, which we actually prefer, isn't open yet). We were one of 3 or 4 cars there. It was wonderful. I would go to Marble Falls all the time if it was always that quiet. We picked our strawberries--M helping very well, J learning about the color red, taking two bites out of many, many strawberries and then putting them in the basket, and wanting rides in the wagon. I wasn't sure how well I would do, being 34 weeks pregnant and all, but I am pioneer woman! :) I picked more strawberries than I intended to, which is always the problem.

If you only eat grocery store strawberries, you need to venture out to a strawberry patch this spring (or a farmer's market) and get some freshly picked strawberries that haven't been shipped to your locale from the far away reaches of California (unless you live next to a strawberry farm in California). There is really no taste comparison. These berries are red the whole way. J's shirt was filthy from the strawberry juice running down his chin onto his shirt (which is why he wore a shirt that was already stained). They aren't too hard and the flavor, oh the flavor, is worth waiting months and months for. Pick strawberries, bring home more than you know what to do with and look for posts in the next few weeks (as our house gets taken over by strawberries) on how to freeze strawberries and make strawberry jam.

We are having a salad tonight topped with strawberry vinagrette dressing to go with our pizza. Also in our near future (the next 2 months of strawberry season) is homemade strawberry ice cream, strawberry panna cotta (Italian custard), strawberry bread, strawberry shortcake (as a meal---Curtis is still getting used to that one, but it's a strawberry season staple at my parent's house). Plus, there is always the benefit of strawberries for snacks--M made her own snack this afternoon--a bowl of fresh picked strawberries.

Aaahh...strawberry season. How I love thee!

Menu for Week

Can I blame my sporadic blogging on being 33 weeks pregnant? Energy levels are diminishing quickly and I am finding myself conserving my energy for the essentials. Sorry for the lack of consistency. I'll try to do better, but can promise nothing at this point (and the points forward).

Menu for the week:
Sunday: Cabbage Bread Soup, which is quickly becoming a definition of comfort food for Curtis and I. J ate the cabbage this time and with some motivation (cake and ice cream) M ate most of hers (she decided last night she didn't like wet bread. Silly girl).
Monday: Swiss Chard Burritos and Brussel Sprouts Gratin
Tuesday: Braised Collards with White Beans
Wednesday: Swiss Chard tart
Thursday: Broccoli and Tofu Stir Fry with Cashews (served over rice)
Friday: Parent's Night Out---kids eat at church--woohoo!

I am excited about the increased frequency of spinach and chard. I enjoyed looking through my cookbook this afternoon and dreaming about spinach/chard dishes (I use the two interchangeably in recipes that have cooked spinach/chard in them). I am also looking forward to the start of strawberry season. It looks like the Marble Falls location of Sweet Berry Farms is opening March 12. That isn't too far away! They were actually open last weekend (only) for the first picking and expect to be opened full time in the middle of March. We'll see if I can manage to pick strawberries in my enlarged, pregnant state. I know the kids will be able to! :)

Happy Valentine's Day!

I made these cupcakes for M's valentine's party at her preschool. The recipe makes enough to fill 2 large cupcake tins (24 regular sized cupcakes) or 2 mini cupcake tins plus almost one large cupcake tin (24 mini cupcakes plus 11 large cupcakes). Thanks to the strawberries, no food coloring was involved. I used frozen strawberries we picked last year at Sweet Berry Farms and froze. Mmm....quite tasty!

Strawberry Cupcakes
1 c fresh or frozen strawberries**
1 (3 -oz) package jello
1/2 c boiling water
3/4 c vegetable oil
4 eggs
1 (18-oz) white cake mix

Icing
1/2 c butter, at room temperature
3 1/2 c powdered sugar
about 1/3 c strawberry juice

**If using fresh strawberries, sprinkle with 1/4 c sugar. Let stand 1 - 2 hours. Then drain. If frozen, thaw, then drain. Reserve juice.

Combine jello and boiling water, stirring until dissolved. Cool (you can put in refrigerator to speed things up). Combine oil, eggs, strawberries, and jello. Sift cake mix into mixer bowl. Add strawberry mixture to cake mix, blending on low speed. Then beat on high speed for 4 minutes. Pour into muffin tins lined with cupcake papers. Bake 15 - 20 minutes (10 - 15 minutes for mini-cupcakes) in preheated 350 degrees oven. (I recommend putting the pans on two separate racks. From prior experience, if they are on the same rack, they burn because the hot air can't circulate properly around them.) Remove from oven and cool on wire racks. To make icing, beat together butter and powdered sugar until smooth, adding just enough strawberry juice to make a good spreading consistency. Ice the cooled cupcakes.