littlefoodies

Plum Preserves

2011-06-15T17:38:00.000-07:00

Plum (with a little peachiness) Preserves

This is easy as can be- fresh, light and summery. I can't wait until stone fruits are at their best because it really makes me feel like summer is here. We had some plums that were getting past their prime as well as 4 small white peaches. All you need is a good heavy bottom pot, fruit, water and sugar. It was just enough to fill a mason jar. I made some fabulous French sandwich bread to slather the preserves on and I had the happiest kid in town.

Enjoy!

2 lbs plums, (I had roughly 1 1/2 lbs of plums and 1/2 lb of white peaches)
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup pure cane organic sugar
1 cinnamon stick or a generous pinch of cinnamon (I used the ground cinnamon)

Chop the fruit and dump everything into the pot. Simmer, uncovered while giving it a good stir every once in awhile. When it appears thick enough- you'll know, about 45 min an hour.
Remove from heat and cool. Transfer to jar and cool.

Roasted Vegetable Stromboli

2011-06-07T18:23:00.000-07:00

Stromboli or as we call it, pizza bread is always an easy hit. Basically, its pizza dough folded up like an envelope and stuffed with meat, veggies, cheese- whatever you wish! Trying to get the kid to eat more veggies is always something I feel like I struggle, with as do most. Well, there are those fortunate parents, lucky you!

Roasting the veggies brings out their natural sweetness and earthiness. I used a combination of carrots, zucchini and broccoli. A little sea salt, garlic and olive oil and its hard to pass up. The recipe is easy. Make it even easier by using Trade Joe's refrigerated pizza dough.

Enjoy!

Pizza dough: (for the bread machine for 1 1/2 lbs)
1 cup warm water- about 80-90F
3/4 tsp honey or sugar (I use honey. I just like the taste.)
1 1/2 tsp sea salt
1 1/2 tbl olive oil
2 2/3 unbleached white flour or bread flour (I never have bread flour!)
9 tbl whole wheat flour
1 3/4 tsp active dry yeast, instant or bread machine

Combine ingredients in order listed in bread machine. Follow the settings for pizza dough.

If you have your fav non bread machine recipe go ahead. I am always on the run and the bread machine has been a lifesaver. Haven't bought a loaf of bread in over 3 years!

Filling:
1/2 cup fav marinara, pasta, red sauce (I used leftover sauce that consisted of can of crushed tomatoes, garlic, finely chopped onion, salt and pepper.)
4 carrots, small diced
1/2 head of broccoli, small diced
1 large zucchini or 2 regular, whatever- small diced
olive oil
salt and pepper

Preheat over to 425 F. Combine veggies with salt and pepper and olive oil and roast about 25-30 minutes. Just check after 20 and stir around. They burn quick keep your eye on them.
Remove and set aside.

Grate about half a block of mozzarella. That is a loose measurement. I tried to go light on the cheese so as not to overpower the veggie goodness.

When the dough is done roll it out into a giant rectangle. So the dough is about 1/4 in thick. Layer half of cheese. Layer of all the veggies. Spread over the sauce and top with rest of cheese. Fold over the sides. One in and another folded over and pinched. Pinch the ends. Transfer to baking sheet and return to already heated oven.

Cook until dough is light brown- about 25 minutes. My calculations are not the most exact so be on the lookout.

Remove, cool for about 5-10 min and then slice and enjoy.

Next up- plum preserves!

Strawberry lemon bars

2011-06-03T10:18:00.000-07:00

These were beautiful yellow and red gems that were almost impossible to stop eating. They are like little bites of strawberry lemonade- perfect tart and sweet combination and perfect for starting out the summer!

The recipe is from Nook and Pantry- the link is provided above! I'd type it out but the summer is calling me....

Temcula Berry Co. u-pick blueberries

2011-05-23T11:55:00.000-07:00

Hello blog! Back again.....

If you are in the Southern California area and have a hankering for blueberries from say around the end of May until the beginning of July then I suggest picking your own sweet, yummy berries at the Temecula Berry Co. U-picks are so much fun for the kids (and adults!) and it is also a wonderful way for kids to see where their food comes from and the importance of eating local! Plus, all the recipes for those blueberries....

We came home and made lemon blueberry pancakes c/o The Pioneer Woman Cooks. Seriously though, those things were cakes and not something I would serve too much! They were heavenly. We grabbed some apple wood smoked bacon from the local butcher and some fresh pineapple and a happy dinner was served.

Lemon blueberry pancakes- http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2011/05/lemon-blueberry-pancakes/

Oh, Hi there....

2009-12-07T10:40:00.000-08:00

Littlefoodies is back with a brand new edition......

It's been a long while but its time to get things rolling again. Happy 4th of July, Happy Birthday, Happy Thanksgiving, Happy Halloween, Merry Christmas/Holidays, and everything else that I have missed in the last 7 months. Life is busy around here. We started home schooling the Littlefoodie, who turned 5 this past summer. The household picked up and moved. we have a beautiful new garden bursting with broccoli, pumpkins, cauliflower, bok choy. The littlefoodie lost another tooth 2 weeks ago and is working on 3 more- 6 total! I have been sewing and having fun with that. We started a new square foot garden and have been living the best way we can- clean, green and full of imagination.

Today is a rainy day here in the land of sunshine and plastic surgery and we've all been hit and recovering him the sickness that seems to be milling around. After littlefoodie made a mural out of cardboard- depicting the waters of ancient Egypt (there is that awesome imagination) we decided to pull out some frozen cranberries and bake us some muffins. For the last few months I have been receiving an organic fruit box from Farmer Steve in Ramona which is put on by our local CSA's moderator. Bi-monthly I get the juiciest and sweetest oranges around, apples, pears, pomegranates, fuyu persimmons, passion fruits, juju fruit, quince, avocados (they are amazing and creamy) and whatever happens to be in season in the farm. They have also begun offering organic eggs! We took the rind and juice of some tangerines and combined with the tartness of fresh cranberries threw them into our muffins along with a handful of chopped walnuts. I am almost smell them now (as much as my stuffy nose can breath).

Later today I plan on puree the persimmons, as I have a crazy amount and throw them in the freezer to make persimmon jam later next week. These persimmons are like none others I have had.

Cranberry, Tangerine and Walnut Muffins

1 1/2 cups fresh organic cranberries
2 tbl organic cane sugar
1 cup organic whole wheat flour
1 cup organic almond meal (can use regular flour, oat flour, barley flour, etc.)
1/3 cup organic cane sugar
4 tsp aluminum free baking powder
Zest of 2 tangerines or zest of 1 small orange and juice
1/2 tsp salt
1 organic egg
3/4 cup buttermilk (can sub regular milk, coconut milk, almond milk, etc.)
1/4 organic butter, melted
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Line muffin tin with liners. Combine cranberries and 2 tbl sugar in a bowl.

Combine flours, sugar, baking powder, orange peel and salt. Stir. Combine egg, milk, butter and juice in a small bowl. Make well in flour mixture and add wet ingredients including cranberries and walnuts to dry. Folding until just incorporated. Spoon into muffin tins and bake 15 min at 400 F.

Enjoy!

Portobello and black bean burgers

2009-05-07T10:46:00.000-07:00

In an effort to reduce our waste, save money and eat even better I have seriously cut back on our intake of meat. I normally only purchase ground turkey, chicken breasts, the occasional pork loin and ever more rare- the elusive ground beef (the good kind of course!) As the kid is mostly vegetarian at this time (Yippee!) I found myself not cooking it. He likes to help me cook and pick things up at the farmers market each Wed. Each wed. morning we go and pick up our CSA box (go Tanaka Farms!) and with excitement go through and see what are prizes are this week. Veggies have become everything that surrounds us.

For the most part we have been eating beans and grains with our veggies. A lot of black beans, quinoa and couscous or wild rice. Cheese is a big one as well! So, while I am no vegetarian (uh, BLAT pizza anyone?) I have decidedly decreased the amount of meat we eat. Wouldn't you know that our grocery bill has been cut in half- not that meat took up that much at all but it really helped us focus on our waste or needs versus wants. Plus, those organic good for you meats and darned expensive and I will not feed my family anything less than that. We love burgers and on the rare occasion we eat one- Father's Office anyone?- we are happy folks but I don't make them in the home much anymore. I have been searching for a veggie burger that holds together and tastes delicious. I think I have found it this time. The portobello's- which the kid eats like an apple- really help the hearty factor. You can change out the black beans for pinto, kidney- whatevs. I liked topping them off with cheese and a little BBQ sauce. I served up some simple steamed green beans tossed with lemon juice, garlic, olive oil and mustard. I don't want to forget, the recipe came from Self magazine. Normally I twist and turn a lot of recipes but I kept this one to the original- mostly and it came out perfect. Next time I plan on making some variations on it- maybe some soyrizo mixed in with cilantro? Yum!

Enjoy!

2 medium portobellos, diced
1/2 onion, diced
1/2 red bell pepper, cored, seeded and diced
1 can (15 oz) black beans, drained and rinsed
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 egg whites
1 tablespoon mustard
1 tablespoon soy sauce or Worcestershire
6 tablespoons dried breadcrumbs

Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook mushrooms, onion and bell pepper, stirring occasionally, until pepper begins to soften, 4 to 5 minutes. Add beans, paprika, garlic powder and black pepper. Cook, smashing beans with the back of a spoon, 1 to 2 minutes more. Transfer mixture to a bowl and mix in eggs, mustard, Worcestershire sauce and breadcrumbs. Form into 4 patties. Wipe out skillet; heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil over medium heat and cook burgers until brown and firm, 6 to 7 minutes per side.

broccoli and three cheese calzones

2009-05-02T10:21:00.000-07:00

Different take on pizza night- the calzone. Same dough, different fillings. The kid and I spent all day making garden decorations out of various items. Dinner time came fast and the same ol pizza didn't seem like enough. The dad is always asking for calzones and he was in for a lucky treat tonight. They came out beautiful. Creamy and veggie filled instead and brown and toasty on the outside. I poured a little marinara on top and what a meal!

Enjoy!

Pizza dough for bread machine- 2 pounds

1 1/2 cups Clean water- 80-90 F
1 teaspoon natural cane sugar
2 teaspoons kosher salt or sea salt
2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
3 1/4 cups organic unbleached all purpose flour
3/4 cup organic whole wheat flour or white whole wheat flour
few dashes of dried basil and garlic, each
2 1/4 teaspoons yeast

Place ingredients in order listed in bread pan with kneading paddle. Select dough/pizza dough setting. Press start. When done remove. Roll out how you wish and top!

1 head of broccoli, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tomato, chopped
dried basil
salt & pepper
olive oil
3-4 cups mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup blue cheese
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
8 fresh spinach leaves

Saute onions and garlic in olive oil until soft. Add in broccoli, red peppers and tomato. Saute until soft. Add dried basil and salt and pepper. Remove from heat and add in cheese.

Divide pizza dough into 6 or 8 pieces depending on how big you want them. 6 will yield big calzones and 8 slightly smaller. Roll them out into 8 inch rounds. Top one half with 2 spinach leaves and scoop of veggie mixture on top. Fold dough over to make a half moon. Crimp edges. Place on baking sheet coated with cornmeal or semolina flour- I like semolina! Brush lightly with olive oil and make 3 small slashes to let steam out. Bake 25 minutes until lightly golden brown. Remove and serve with marinara sauce.

Bacon, lettuce, tomato and avocado pizza. BLAT pizza heaven!

2009-04-28T08:49:00.000-07:00

Friday night pizza with the neighbors turned into me eating super healthy all week so I can dream and devise the most perfectly delicious pizza and not hold any lingering guilt. Great!

BLT pizza started as a dream and morphed into my mouth a smoky, creamy, cool and cheesy delight. You will have those who love you love you even more after this pizza. It's that good. Try it!

Enjoy!

Pizza dough: (I always remove 1/4 lb of dough some the 2 lb ball to make a small cheese pizza for the kids enjoyment! We adult refer to it as the appetizer pizza!)

Pizza dough for bread machine- 2 pounds

1 1/2 cups Clean water- 80-90 F
1 teaspoon natural cane sugar
2 teaspoons kosher salt or sea salt
2 tbls extra virgin olive oil
3 1/4 cups organic unbleached all purpose flour
3/4 cup organic whole wheat flour or white whole wheat flour
few dashes of dried basil and garlic, each
2 1/4 teaspoons yeast

Place ingredients in order listed in bread pan with kneading paddle. Select dough/pizza dough setting. Press start. When done remove. Roll out how you wish and top!

BLAT-Bacon, Lettuce, Avocado, Tomato pizza

1 onion, diced
4-5 garlic cloves, minced
olive oil
3/4 block organic Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
10-12 slices good quality bacon- no preservatives, no hormones! I like apple wood smoked uncured from TJ'S
2 fresh organic tomatoes, diced
4 cups finely shredded greens- I used green leaf lettuce
2 avocados, diced

Heat oven to 450F. Roll out dough and transfer to pan. Set aside.

Cook bacon until crisp. Drain, cool and roughly chop. Set aside.

Saute onions and garlic in olive oil until soft and translucent. Do no over cook the garlic. Keep it on med heat.

Top pizza with onions, garlic and olive oil mixture. Top with bacon and tomatoes. Sprinkle shredded cheese over pizza.

Bake about 25-ish minutes. (I have yet to clock the cooking time.)

When pizza is done let sit for 10 min. Then top with lettuce and avocado. Slice up and serve!

Tacos al Pastor- easy and good!

2009-04-23T08:44:00.000-07:00

What can I say. Smoky, earthy chunks of pork. Handmade corn tortillas. Fresh juicy tomatoes tossed with lime, creamy perfect avocados, garlic and cilantro. Wrapped up and fit perfectly to the hand. Tacos al pastor and a simple and totally satisfying little taco and couldn't be easier. I served the tacos with grilled zucchini spears and yellow peppers tossed with black beans and lightly seasoned. When the weather is toasty these perfect tacos just need a beer for the other hand and all is well!

The marinade came together in the blender. I used 1/4 of an ancho chile pepper that I ground up in the spice grinder. Fresh is really best since you can really get the full flavor. If you can't find whole dried ancho chile peppers you can use a dried chile powder like New mexico or pasiilla, not cayenne!
Enjoy!

1 pork tenderloin, diced in chunks
1 large white onion, roughly chopped
3/4 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
1/4 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup chile powder
3 tbl ancho chile powder
1/4 tsp cumin
1 tsp dried oregano
3 garlic cloves, peeled
pinch of salt

In a blender combine onion through salt. Pour over pork in a bag and marinate for at least a few hours or over night. I had a little marinade left over which I plan to use on chicken for enchiladas next week!

Heat grill pan to med high heat with a touch of oil. Add pork and some marinade to coat all over. This stuff is good! Saute until cooked through 5-9 min, depending.

Serve in a corn tortilla with you favorite salsa, avocados or guacamole. Cilantro, lime wedges and a side of veggies.

Orange cinnamon muffins

2009-04-21T10:06:00.000-07:00

Each month I spend $25 and receive a big box filled to the top with locally and organically grown oranges of all varieties. My favorite right now are the blood oranges! The box also contains the BEST! avocados I think I have tasted. Creamy, beautiful green and the best addition to almost any meal. All this produce comes from a farm in San Diego courtesy of one farmer Steve.

I use the oranges mainly for juicing each day for our beet, spinach and strawberry smoothies. They also make there way into our baked goods! These little muffins are super light and fluffy and warm up or cool off any early morning or mid day slump. They are easy to make and easy to eat!

Enjoy!

2 cups organic whole wheat or white whole wheat flour
1/2 cup organic pure cane sugar
2 tsp aluminum free baking powder
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/3 cup organic butternut squash puree (Trader Joe's make a great canned alternative to fresh.) (you can also use unsweetened applesauce or vegetable oil)
1/2 cup of fresh squeezed orange juice
1 TB orange zest
1/2 cup organic unsweetened coconut milk (can use buttermilk, milk, almond milk or soy milk)
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 lg organic eggs
1/4 cup organic flax seeds- the whole seed

3 TB organic pure cane brown sugar
2 tsp cinnamon

handful of raw wheat germ for sprinkling on top

Preheat oven to 359F. Line muffin tin with liners. Combine brown sugar and cinnamon together in small bowl.

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt in large bowl. Whisk squash puree, orange juice, zest, coconut milk, vanilla extract and eggs together until combined. Pour into dry and gently fold until just combined. It should be nice and fluffy. Fold in flax seeds.

Spoon a few TB into muffins liners and sprinkle with about a half TB of brown sugar/cinnamon mixture. Top with remaining batter. Sprinkle wheat germ on top of muffins.

Bake 22 mins. Cool and serve.

The best cinnamon raisin bread for the bread machine!

2009-04-20T23:26:00.000-07:00

This loaf was soft and slightly sweet and probably the most precise and perfect recipe I have used. It makes a great snack and even better french toast! The littlefoodie loves cinnamon raisin bread as much as he loves telling jokes about pooping on someone's head. Kids are fun!

1 cup organic milk
1/4 cup unsalted butter or organic coconut oil, melted
1 lg organic egg
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 tsp sea salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup organic pure cane sugar
1/2 cup organic unsweetened coconut flakes
3 cups organic white whole wheat flour
1 tsp aluminum free baking soda
2 1/2 tsp instant yeast

1 cup organic raisins

Combine ingredients in order listed in bread pan fitted with kneading paddle for bread machine with an exception of the raisins.
Set the bread machine to white bread. I am not sure how different each bread maker is so you will just have to follow your machines directions. This recipe will yield a 1 1/2 pound loaf. When my mix-in signal beeps I add the raisins right before the rise.
When done let it cool off and then slice. It is truly delicious!

Strawberry, beet and spinach smoothie- kid approved!

2009-04-20T10:11:00.000-07:00

I pretty much make this everyday for either a breakfast treat, snack or just when the mood strikes. First I juice the veggies and then I add the rest to the blender with the frozen fruit. The kid loves it, downs it and asks for more. To be honest, he has no clue of what is in it. Am I lying? Of course not, its just that he has never asked... he trusts me to not put those horrible vegetables in his beloved smoothie, hee. I stick with same ratio just about every time I make this. Occasionally, there isn't much sweetness for one reason or another and I add just a touch of organic agave nectar to the kids. I like mine more on the veggie side. A handful of flax seeds is also a nice little addition as well. I omit the flax seeds for the kid since flax seeds help to keep those bowels healthy if you know what I mean and he'd be in the bathroom not a happy camper. Oh, and the promise of pink pee- from the beets- is pretty awesome to a 4 1.2 year old.

Enjoy!

1 peeled whole organic beet
2 carrots, cleaned
2 stalks celery
2 cup organic washed spinach
1 whole organic apple, washed
2 handfuls organic whole frozen strawberries
1 handful organic frozen blackberries
small handful of frozen pineapple tidbits (TraderJoe's make some seriously yummy frozen fruits!)
1 handful of frozen mango
juice of 1 organic orange
sprinkling of frozen blueberries

In a juicer, juice beets, carrots, spinach, celery and apple.

Pour juice into blender and squeeze in orange juice. Add in frozen fruits and blend. Drink and be healthy!

Friday Pizza night- BBQ chicken pizza and sneaky chocolate chip cookies

2009-04-18T09:43:00.000-07:00

This Christmas I became the proud owner of a Cuisinart 2-pound Convection Automatic Bread Maker). To say I am happy with it is downplaying my giddiness. Every loaf, roll and pizza dough has turned out gigantically fantastical (as the kid would say). From the moment I ripped that sucker out of the package I have been using it non-stop. A couple months ago we started a new family tradition- Friday night pizza- with the neighbors! Once a week I can count on good friends, BOOZE, pizza of all varieties, laughter and well, booze! Sound great? It is!

Last night we had a very simple and totally and insanely delicious pizza. BBQ chicken with black beans. The best part of this pizza is that unlike the take-out or frozen versions there is very little fat, all coming from the cheese which was in part low-fat! The sauce came from Trader Joe's and the the pizza maker took care of the dough! Easy as pizza pie!

For dessert, I made a recipe from the book Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld. I have been twisting and turing all these recipes because well, for the most part- the recipes are very poorly executed and I get the feeling that someone didn't really test these out prior. They are awesome in theory but not so perfect in practicality. I have seen these chocolate chip cookies with the addition of chickpeas or garbanzos floating on the information super highway for a long time now and finally decided to make them. They turned out pretty good and the kid liked them. I am in awe of how the book is supposed to be aimed at healthy cooking for our kids but really aside from the sneaky veggies here and there, there is no real nutritional added value to the recipes- no whole wheat flours, organic ingredients, natural sugars or butters. I think it's time!

Enjoy!

Pizza dough for bread machine- 2 pounds

1 1/2 cups Clean water- 80-90 F
1 teaspoon natural cane sugar
2 teaspoons kosher salt or sea salt
2 tbls extra virgin olive oil
3 1/4 cups organic unbleached all purpose flour
3/4 cup organic whole wheat flour or white whole wheat flour
few dashes of dried basil and garlic, each
2 1/4 teaspoons yeast

Place ingredients in order listed in bread pan with kneading paddle. Select dough/pizza dough setting. Press start. When done remove. Roll out how you wish and top!

BBQ Chicken Pizza

2 lb pizza dough- roll out to desired shape- set aside for topping
3 organic boneless, skinless chicken breasts- I like to use poached chicken but you can slice and saute
1 can organic black beans, rinsed and drained
1 chopped organic tomato
half of red bell pepper, diced
giant handful of roughly chopped organic cilantro
salt and pepper
1 bottle of fav bbq sauce- I use trader joes- it is very mild!
few cups of organic mozzarella cheese
cup of shredded cheddar (use as much or as little cheese as you like!)

Preheat oven to 450F.

Toss chopped chicken, beans, cilantro, tomato, bell pepper and salt and pepper together to combine.

Spread a nice thick layer of bbq sauce over rolled out dough. Top with chicken mixture.

Sprinkle very generously with cheese. I like a lot of cheese!

Bake for 25 minutes. At this point I don't follow how high or how long I bake things. It has become a sixth sense of sorts. When it is bubbly and cheese is brown then take out, slice up and devour.

Chocolate Chip Cookies with Garbanzo Beans

1 cup organic dark brown cane sugar
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 lg organic egg
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 15 oz can of organic chickpeas, rinsed and drained
2 cups chocolate chips
2 cups organic whole wheat flour or white whole wheat
1/2 cup organic oats
1 tsp baking soda
1.4 tsp sea salt

Preheat oven to 350F.

In mixer beat sugar and butter until fluffy and combined. Add in egg, beat. Add vanilla and chickpeas and mix until combined. Add chocolate chips.

Combine flour, oats, baking soda and salt. Add to butter mixture and mix until combined.

Drop dough by large tbl onto baking sheet and flatten just a bit. Cook for 11-13 minutes.

Eat!

Here we go again....

2009-04-17T10:31:00.000-07:00

Long time no blog! Seems life's taken its toll on the blog time and I find myself playing Candyland more than one should. The good news is we are back from the sleep now that it is spring. The sun is up, the days are longer and the kitchen and garden and screaming.

Next up is homemade pizzas, breads! We've decided to dedicate Friday nights to homemade pizza/family night. Tonight's adventure will be BBQ'd chicken pizza, salad, good old fashioned cheese pizza for the less adventurous 4 1/2 year old and strawberry lemon bars. Spring time meal at its yumminess!

So here we are once and again! We'll be seeing you soon!

all he wants for x-mas is his 2 front teeth..... tooth #2

2008-12-24T10:06:00.000-08:00

Memo to the rest of littlefoodies mouth- Spare us the abandonment and money. This kid is growing up waaaaaaaaay too fast and for a more than likely only child this makes the parents weepy and emotional and full of baby memories of past. He won't even be 4 1/2 for another month... The first tooth brought a dollar, the 2nd-due to being totally unprepared brought 5$.
Now I know they can grasp the concept of money at a young age because the look on his face was gummy and priceless and full of pleas to trudge thru this x-mas craziness and take him to target for 5$ worth of (crap) goodies. It's not my cash no mo so what can I do.

Merry x-mas and happy tooth loss to all!

best and easiest gingerbread cookies ever!

2008-12-16T08:59:00.000-08:00

These really were perfect. The dough was pliable and not too soft which meant the kid could roll and mold without getting all frustrated. They came out chewy and spicy and soooo good! The recipe came from Epicurious.com and I didn't change a thing in the actual recipe, although it does call for molasses and states not robust i did use black strap which obviously worked just fab! we also rolled them out to be bout 1 in thick. We like em big and cakey like that.

Enjoy!

2/3 cup molasses (not robust)
2/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon pieces
1 large egg, lightly beaten
3 3/4 to 4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt

Bring molasses, brown sugar, and spices to a boil in a 4- to 5-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, and remove from heat. Stir in baking soda (mixture will foam up), then stir in butter 3 pieces at a time, letting each addition melt before adding next, until all butter is melted. Add egg and stir until combined, then stir in 3 3/4 cups flour and salt.

Preheat oven to 325°F.

Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface and knead, dusting with as much of remaining 1/4 cup flour as needed to prevent sticking, until soft and easy to handle, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Halve dough, then wrap 1 half in plastic wrap and keep at room temperature.

Roll out remaining dough into a 14-inch round (1/8 inch thick) on a lightly floured surface. Cut out as many cookies as possible with cutters and carefully transfer with offset spatula to 2 buttered large baking sheets, arranging them about 1 inch apart.

Bake cookies in upper and lower thirds of oven, switching position of sheets halfway through baking, until edges are slightly darker, 10 to 12 minutes total (watch carefully toward end of baking; cookies can burn easily). Transfer cookies to racks to cool completely. Make more cookies with remaining dough and scraps (re roll once).

Put icing in pastry bag (if using) and pipe or spread decoratively onto cookies.

chocolate mocha milk chocolate chip cookies

2008-12-13T09:29:00.000-08:00

Needing chocolate and coffee and more chocolate? Here ya go! These also get better the next day. I make the dough, bake a few and freeze the remaining dough to pop out and bake when I "need" them. I tweaked the recipe off of the nestle website, reducing sugar, changing up butter content. They are great!

Enjoy!

2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
3/4 cup good quality cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
1/2 cup unsalted organic butter, room temp
1/2 cup non-hydrogenated shortening, Spectrum brand is great. The crisco stuff.... baaaaaad stuff!
1/2 cup organic pure cane sugar
1/2 cup organic dark brown sugar
1 tbl cooled, coffee
splash of pure vanilla extract
2 large organic fresh eggs
1 package milk chocolate chips (trader joes chips! yum!)

Preheat oven to 350F.

Combine flour thru salt.

Beat sugar and butter and shortening until light and fluffy. Add in coffee and vanilla. Beat in eggs one and a time. Gradually beat in flour. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop onto parchment lined sheet.

Bake 10 min. Remove and cool. Eat!

roly poly santa cookies and the easiest all purpose sugar cookie dough

2008-12-11T07:59:00.000-08:00

(DON'T MIND THE GREATLY USED SILPAT!)

Its time for all those x-mas cookies and the kid knows it for sure this year. I love christmas and having a kid is like living the magic all over again. This sugar cookie dough was so easy to whip together, no egg which made littlefoodie happy to indulge in eating that dough. Also, which is a great bonus is that it can be made vegan with non dairy margarine like Earth's Balance, which I love. The dough itself is sturdy and can be shaped and colored into just abut anything you can think of. When they were done it was buttery and flaky and yummy. Make sure to use quality flour and butter and sugar as the ingredient list is pretty minimal you want to get the most out of the flavors.

ENJOY!

1 cup margarine or butter, room temp.
1/2 organic pure cane sugar
1 tbl milk or half and half
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups of unbleached all purpose flour-King Arthur Flour results in the best product!
red paste food coloring
raisins, diced up for little eyes and buttons
White frosting of your choice

Preheat oven to 350F.
In the mixer beat butter until light and fluffy. Add in sugar and beat to combine. Beat in milk and vanilla. Add flour and beat to combine. Remove 1 cup of dough and set aside. Tint the rest of the dough with red food coloring and stir until its the color you want your little Santa to be.
So, who wants boring measurements on how to roll balls the right size. Not I. Then- roll the balls in different sizes to make body parts. You will need a red belly ball-slightly larger than the rest. A white head-slightly smaller then the belly. 4 small balls for the arms and legs. 4 even small white dough balls for the hands and feet. Shape the red dough for Santa's hat. Arrange them together on the baking sheet and don't let them run away with the gingerbread men! That's done!
Put them together.
Cut the raisins up small enough for the eyes and buttons and place on cookie.
Bake 12-15 minutes.
Remove and cool.
When cool pipe your frosting of choice for the little ball on his hat, whiskers and beard, sleeves, pants and jacket.
Now eat them!

soft and chewy, yummy pretzels....

2008-12-09T09:10:00.000-08:00

and that they were. The kid and the dad loved em. In fact, I will be making batch 2 today to satisfy the littlefoodies pretzel love!
Surprisingly, the recipe came from cooking light and didn't involve their usual pounds of sugar. I do believe that this might be the best pretzel recipe going. I plan on throwing a little cocoa powder in a half batch this time. I did half cinnamon/sugar and half salt... one for the dad, one for the kid.

Because I am lazy and off to play I will just copy and paste cooking lights recipe here with a link above. Remember, unbleached white flour is best (King Arthur Brand of course!)

Enjoy!

Ingredients
1 package dry yeast (about 2 1/4 teaspoons)
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1 cup warm water (100° to 110°)
3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, divided (about 14 1/2 ounces)
1 teaspoon salt
Cooking spray
6 cups water
2 tablespoons baking soda
1 teaspoon cornmeal
1 teaspoon water
1 large egg
2 teaspoons kosher salt
Preparation
Dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water in a large bowl, and let stand for 5 minutes.

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Add 3 cups flour and 1 teaspoon salt to yeast mixture; stir until a soft dough forms. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic (about 8 minutes). Add enough of remaining flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, to prevent dough from sticking to hands (dough will feel slightly sticky).

Place dough in a large bowl coated with cooking spray, turning to coat top. Cover and let rise in a warm place (85°), free from drafts, 40 minutes or until doubled in size. (Gently press two fingers into dough. If indentation remains, the dough has risen enough.) Punch dough down; cover and let rest 5 minutes.

Preheat oven to 425°.

Divide dough into 12 equal portions. Working with one portion at a time (cover remaining dough to prevent drying), roll each portion into an 18-inch-long rope with tapered ends. Cross one end of rope over the other to form a circle, leaving about 4 inches at end of each rope. Twist the rope at the base of the circle. Fold the ends over the circle and into a traditional pretzel shape, pinching gently to seal. Place pretzels on a baking sheet lightly coated with cooking spray. Cover and let rise 10 minutes (pretzels will rise only slightly).

Combine 6 cups water and baking soda in a nonaluminum Dutch oven. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer. Gently lower 1 pretzel into simmering water mixture; cook 15 seconds. Turn pretzel with a slotted spatula; cook an additional 15 seconds. Transfer pretzel to a wire rack coated with cooking spray. Repeat procedure with remaining pretzels.

Place pretzels on a baking sheet sprinkled with cornmeal. Combine 1 teaspoon water and egg in a small bowl, stirring with a fork until smooth. Brush a thin layer of egg mixture over pretzels; sprinkle with kosher salt. Bake at 425° for 12 minutes or until pretzels are deep golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

The tooth fairy cometh

2008-12-06T08:46:00.000-08:00

All he wants for x-mas is his bottom left tooth! The tooth fairy came last night and brought $1 and a pack of growing animal capsules. The cutest 4 yr old toothless grin ever!

Vegetarian black lentil stew with soy chorizo and pumpkin puree

2008-12-04T09:29:00.000-08:00

Wow was this delicious. If you are skeptical about soy chorizo don't be. I love the real stuff but really pig's butts and snouts just can't make it into this belly or my families. Soy chorizo really has all the flavor of the regular chorizo. It cooks up differently of course but with a little extra liquid it is amazing... and we are not big fans of soy but this is stellar. There is the Soyrizo brand and then Trader Joe's makes there own version that I prefer.... and its inexpensive and so worth the try!
Black beluga lentils are a staple here and Trader Joe's makes them in a vacuum pack already cooked so just cut heat and serve. I threw a about a half cup of pumpkin puree for extra measure and it really brought out the flavor. I served this along side some steamed broccoli and yellow squash that was then stir fried with some olive oil and garlic- the kid's method of choice for veggies! I have been adding it to everything lately, including a turkey bolognese which was out of sight!

Enjoy!

1 small yellow onion, diced
1 bell pepper, diced (your choice on the color- I use red or yellow mostly)
A few garlic cloves, diced
Couple carrots, diced small
1 bag Black Beluga Lentils (from Trader Joe's) or use black beans!
1 package Soy Chorizo
veggie broth
chili powder
cumin
salt and pepper
oregano
pinch of cinnamon
3/4-1/2 cup organic pumpkin puree
Organic cilantro
monterey jack cheese

Saute onions, garlic, carrots and bell peppers in olive oil until tender and onions are translucent. Add a chili powder (about 1 tsp), cumin (about 1 tbl), a shake of some dried oregano, teensy pinch of cinnamon and salt and pepper. Cook over med heat until spices become super fragrant. Add in lentils or beans. Add in soy chorizo and cook until heated. Dump in pumpkin and stir up. Add some broth as needed to help prevent it from being too dry. Add in a generous handful of chopped cilantro. Cook until heated through. Spoon into dish and sprinkle with monterey jack cheese. Serve over stir fried veggies.

Caramel apple muffins

2008-11-16T08:52:00.000-08:00

Little foodie and I have been putting some effort into some fall baking. It's a little hard these days when the weather tops 80 degrees and the smell of smoke from fires miles and miles away cake your lungs. Anyone know why fall has been non-existent around these parts this year? Hard to put a mama in the baking mood.

Mama's little golfer in training!

Anyway, these little muffins were gooey, caramel-y and full of juicy organic gala's, granny smith's and golden delicious apples.. make sure you cut them in hearty chunks because then its reminiscent of a big ol caramel apple and yeah, what is better than that. Pears would be a wonderful substitute if preferred but keep the caramel! oh yes! Give it a try and you won't be disappointed!

Enjoy!

Caramel Apple Muffins

2 C. whole wheat flour
1/2 C. organic pure cane dark brown sugar
2 1/2 t. cinnamon
2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 C. warm milk
1/4 C. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 t. vanilla extract
4 apples, diced ( i used bigger size so it seemed like there was more apple than batter but it turned out amazing!)
1 cup caramel bits ( i used this bag of tiny caramel bits/balls that worked great but you could cut up the caramel squares. i got the nibblets at target but maybe a big grocery store would carry them, I believe they are Kraft brand but not entirely sure.)

Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease muffin tins or line with paper cups.

In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.

In another bowl, combine egg and milk. Stir in butter and vanilla extract. Add flour mixture and stir just to blend. Stir in apples and caramels. Divide batter evenly among prepared cups. Sprinkle with flax seed for extra goodness or to fool yourself! Bake for 25 minutes or until tops spring back when lightly pressed. Serve warm.

Makes 12-14 muffins.

Civil Rights for Everyone!

2008-11-13T14:06:00.000-08:00

It was a bittersweet day here in California, Nov 4th. With the passing of prop 8 here in California it makes me wonder just how far the American people (voters of yes on 8, that is) are going to go to strip the fundamental civil rights of people that they disagree with. Civil rights-the basic right to be recognized as a human being, as an American, with the rights to vote, marry, practice their own faith, to work, etc. I wonder, if its that easy to deny a person the right to marry is stripping a woman's right to vote next? to work? Segregation in schools, transportation? Do the gay and lesbian American people have the right to not pay taxes, seeing as how they are not fully recognized? Where are we? Fortunately, there are people out there right now opposing the discrimination and hate and fighting that and they need help.

On Saturday, Nov. 15th there will be a nationwide protest in all states in many major cities all over the country. This country that people come to to be free. To avoid oppression (HA, so much for that!) Above you can click on the link and it will take you to a detailed page where you can find where your local peaceful protest will be held. As a parent now I am passionate about issues that will strengthen this country and the people, the place my son may live in as an adult. So, if you can, if you care, if you HATE the injustice and denying of BASIC! CIVIL RIGHTS of the American people than join up and let your voice be hear! It's not just a gay and lesbian issue it is a human rights issue and involves our whole society! Let's stop this ignorant crap!

http://jointheimpact.wetpaint.com/

onion smothered pork loin topped with double cream gouda

2008-11-10T11:29:00.000-08:00

The weather has finally cooled down some which makes it a little easier to cook in my little kitchen. A simple pork loin is jazzed up with sweet, caramel onions and creamy Gouda. I served up some roasted acorn squash topped with maple syrup, salt/pepper, and butter and steamed green beans. A really nice and easy fall meal.

Enjoy!

1 pork loin
salt and pepper
paprika
few fresh thyme sprigs

2 large yellow onions, thinly sliced
tsp of sugar
salt and pepper
4 lg garlic cloves, minced
2 cups organic beef broth

1 cup shredded Gouda

Preheat oven to 425F. Season pork with salt and pepper and paprika. Brown in a little oil in saute pan on each side. Remove and add to baking dish. set aside.

Add onions to pan and sprinkle sugar over. cook on low for 10-15 min until caramelized and soft. add garlic and cook another 5 min. add in thyme and season with salt and pepper and more paprika. Cover pork with onion mixture in pan. Add in beef broth.

Cook about 30 min.

remove from oven. set pork aside and rest. drain broth from onions, reserving liquid in bowl. in skillet heat a few TB of unsalted butter and add 1 TB of flour. cook a few minutes until bubbly and no lumps of flour remain, slowly pour in broth. bring to boil then turn off. dump in onions and test for seasoning.

slice pork and top with onions and shredded Gouda.

Dark cherry and white chocolate pound cake

2008-11-09T09:06:00.000-08:00

This was good and totally bad for you but never mind that. The recipe was changed from the original that came from allrecipes.com. For a pound cake it is incredibly airy and fluffy. I think using coconut oil to replace butter is a smart move, not only is it much better for you but it gives amazing results. The og recipe called for maraschino cherries which, while totally yummy are totally rotten for you. A better and tastier way is to use a jar of Trader Joe's Dark Morello Cherries or even fresh or frozen sweet cherries..... maraschino cherries are best left to Manhattan's (hold the vermouth) and Fruit cake (ewww!) This is a perfect little holiday treat!

Enjoy!

2 cups white whole wheat flour, King Arthur Brand
3 tsp aluminum free baking powder
pinch of salt
dash of allspice
1 cup organic virgin coconut oil or unsalted butter (coconut oil gives great results and interchangeable with butter)
1 pkg cream cheese, room temp
3/4 cup organic pure cane sugar
4 fresh organic eggs
tsp of pure vanilla extract
tsp of pure almond extract
1 cup Dark Morello cherries, drained well
1 cup good quality white chocolate chunks.
few tbl of flour for dredging cherries in

preheat oven to 350F. Grease tube pan or bundt pan.

Combine flour, b powder, salt and allspice.

Cream coconut oil/butter, cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat eggs one at a time. Scrap down sides and add extracts. Beat in flour.

Sprinkle just enough flour to coat cherries. like with blueberries, this helps the cherries from falling to the bottom of the cake and keeps them scattered throughout.

Fold cherries into cake along with white chocolate.

Bake 60 min. Insert knife if not ready. Cool a few minutes than turn out and eat or cool or eat and be cool!

And just like that a new wind is blowing......

2008-11-04T21:42:00.000-08:00

Certainly time for a change, right? America made that known tonight as McCain graciously gave his concession speech and Obama historically changed the tide.

I am happy to have been a part of that vote for change and cannot wait to see what is in store for this amazing country soon enough.

Here's to renewed faith and in our country and its leaders! Cheers!

(and here's to Palin crawling back in her igloo! yay!)

oh baby!

2008-10-02T21:39:00.000-07:00

i just wanted to shout out a little "CONGRATULATIONS" to my friend rebecca over at girls gone child for birthin' out real good a cute little bundle of baby joy!

welcome to world little fable luella. (awesome name!)

HFCS crazy propaganda.... sweet surprise my informed butt.

2008-09-13T22:40:00.000-07:00

ok. seriously, first the republican party brings us sarah palin... yikes. (i will refrain from getting into that here as hard as it is.) and now the corn industry is trying to make people believe that high fructose corn syrups are ok with their crazy commercials making informed people look stupid... first her and now this... are we only shooting for the bottom of the barrel here?
we're smarter than this.... i hope! (edited today because apparently we are not!)

another great posting over at cleaner plate club (click on the title to take you right to her website to read) about this hfcs business... take a gander, read what's up, do your own research, get yourself informed and think about what we put into our bodies and our children's.. and realize how all these things factor into the global picture.

no hfcs in this house (and no sarah palin either!)

and here we go being treated like dummies:

and here we go treating us moms, who care like dummies:

cinnamon raisin swirlie bread

2008-09-13T09:17:00.000-07:00

littefoodie has a major love for cinnamon raisin bread and around here its simply called swirlie bread. the kid adores it. i used to buy it at trader joes but when i realized how often i really did have to buy those yummy loaves i realized how much easier it would be just to bake some up ourselves.

the recipe is from another blog named pete-bakes.com. the recipe is perfect. the only change i made was using whole wheat flour instead of white as well as organic sugars, flours and butters. the title is a link to the amazingly yummy and wonderful website and i copied and pasted the recipe as well! thanks pete!

enjoy!

cinnamon raisin swirl bread
makes two loaves, but it’s easy enough to halve this one.

1 package dry instant yeast
2 1/4 cups warm water
3 Tbsp and 1/4 cup sugar, separated
1 Tbsp salt
4 Tbsp butter
6-7 cups flour
1 cup raisins
1 Tbsp cinnamon

1. dissolve the yeast in 1/2 cup of water and 1 Tbsp of sugar. let stand for five minutes.

2. stir in the remaining 1 3/4 cups warm water, 2 Tbsp sugar, salt, 2 Tbsp melted butter, 3 1/2 cups of the flour and all of the raisins. beat until smooth (either by hand or stand mixer), adding the remaining 3 or so cups of flour until the dough is easy to handle (not too sticky but still moist).

3. turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. place the dough in a greased bowl, roll it around so all the dough is coated, cover with a towel and let it rise in a warm place until doubled (about an hour).

4. mix together 1/4 cup sugar and 1 Tbsp cinnamon in a small bowl.

5. punch down the dough, divide in half, and roll them out on a floured surface so they are both about 18 x 9 inches. you may need to roll, let the dough rest, and roll again so you get the right size.

6. sprinkle each rolled out loaf with 1 Tbsp of water and half of the sugar and cinnamon mixture.

7. roll the dough from the short end and pinch the seams shut. you should have a 9 inch long rolled up piece of dough. place into a greased loaf pans. brush the tops of the loaves with 2 Tbsp melted butter and let them rise for 1 hour.

8. bake at 425 F for 30 minutes. the loaves should have a dark golden brown top. remove and place on a wire rack to cool. you can freeze the loaves, although i don’t know how long they’ll keep, since i usually finish both off within a week.

southwestern stuffed tomatoes straight from the farm

2008-09-11T08:00:00.000-07:00

this was so good and comforting. i had just picked up my co-op box yesterday and had plenty of tomatoes to add to my fridge already bursting with heirlooms, Roma's and beefsteaks. after scouring the internet for recipes i decided on stuffed tomatoes. i admit that it took until this year to really love a farm fresh, blood red, sweet and juicy tomato. the key is to get them straight from the source and a natural source at that. the ones you pick up in the market, even my beloved trader joes and my least fav these days whole foods.. they are bland and un-appealing. never will i purchase supermarket tomatoes.. yuck!

the flavors can be totally interchangeable for whatever your feeling.. italian style, greek, indian, etc. we had a hankering for mexican last night. i paired it with a saute of mixed squash and a brown rice medley from tj's.

enjoy!

(because blogger SUCKS, i have not been able to post pics. keep up the good work blogger, ha!)

6 firm, juicy farm fresh tomatoes
4 garlic cloves
1/2 an onion, chopped. i used spring onions. the green tops and the bulb since i have so many on hand.
1 bell pepper (i did use one pepper, however i think it was a bell pepper. it had more heat than a regular one and was slender and a reddish orange color. the flavor was a cross between a bell pepper and a jalapeno.)
1 lb fresh ground turkey
1 can organic kidney beans, drained and rinsed
generous seasonings of: ground cumin, chili powder, oregano, salt and pepper.
grated cheddar

preheat oven to 450F.

cut off tops of tomatoes. remove pulp and save in a bowl. i freeze mine for today's pasta sauce. sprinkle with salt and pepper and let sit upside down to drain.

in a bowl mix garlic thru seasonings. scoop out enough to fill tomato. i toss the top and fill mine high as the sky. its like a self contained mini meatloaf!

place tomatoes in a baking dish and sprinkle tops with cheddar. bake about 40-45 min.

remove and enjoy!

cinnamon raisin swirlie bread

2008-09-09T20:28:00.000-07:00

littlefoodies presents....Spicy Beef on Hummus on The Back Burner

2008-09-02T08:46:00.000-07:00

spicy beef on hummus with grilled veggies

we ate at a local lebanese restaurant the other day ...

See spicy beef on hummus with grilled veggies on Key Ingredient.

littlefoodies was recently featured on a wonderful the backburner which, as they state is a companion blog to another amazing website called Key Ingredient. the link is on the title. key ingredient is a place where you can find gazillions of tried and true recipes by real cooks. the companion site that littlefoodies picked to feature, has new recipes up each day featuring fellow bloggers from everywhere. this place has a huge database and a great source if you're looking for that perfect meal!

check out Key Ingredient and wander on over to The Back Burner to see what is new today!

enjoy!

beachgreens bounty and walnut basil pesto without all the fat

2008-08-23T08:13:00.000-07:00

our beachgreens veggie/fruit was delivered on thursday and its always such a nice surprise to find out what goodies we got this week. this crate included: japanese eggplants, chard, corn, onions, giant, juicy heirloom tomatoes, oranges, first of the season apples, avocados!, grapes (so good!!), green beans, teeny purple bell peppers, fennel, cucumbers, zucchini, and basil.
we currently have an overabundance of basil right now, thankfully, the cabbage worms that have devoured most of our garden have somehow spared our basil. that reminds me, anyone have any advice on destroying those cabbage worms? argghh....

thursday was a nice breezy and warm day. we spent most of the day at a wonderful place up in l.a. called The Treehouse Social Club (click above for the direct link). we were pooped and needed a quick and healthy meal. i whipped up a batch of basil walnut pesto, a batch that doesn't bust the gut and added it to some whole wheat couscous tossed with grilled zucchini and tomatoes. i suppose you could add more olive oil or more cheese but it tasted divine the way it was plus, all those walnuts still make it pretty deliciously fatty.

enjoy!

3-4 cups fresh cleaned, organic basil
3 peeled garlic cloves
2-3 tbl parmesan cheese
2-3 extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup chopped, toasted walnuts
salt and pepper to taste

whip it all up in a blender and enjoy!

vegan mint cookies n cream cupcakes

2008-08-15T07:32:00.000-07:00

we made these little gems for littlefoodies 4th b-day party last week. they were out of sight. on the title you can click over to the original recipe. the recipe only made 12 so i needed to make another batch... really, i had to stretch it to make 12 but they still rose above the muffin tin a bit. i did change the recipe a bit. i don't like using much soy. not fans here and i am not convinced of its health benefits. you can interchange soy milk and earth's balance non dairy vegan "butter" for the coconut milk and coconut oil.... coconut is much better for you though!!!

these were moist, spongy and delicious. thanks to Newman's Own for making oreo-ish dairy free cookies. they added some extra loving to an otherwise plain chocolate cupcake. i know some of the people would have been a little too scared and unwilling had i told them they were vegan so we kept it mum for those who, are less inclined to eat healthy, wink wink. i don

make these... kids will love them and so will you!

enjoy!

1 cup organic coconut milk (or organic soy milk)
1 tsp organic apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup organic pure cane sugar
1/3 cup canola oil
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 tsp pure peppermint extract
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup good quality cocoa powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp aluminum free baking powder
pinch of sea salt
half a package of Newman's own dairy free (oreo-ish) cookies, pulverized!

preheat oven to 350F. line muffin pan with unbleached cupcake liners. whisk coconut milk and vinegar together, set aside. add sugar, oil, extracts to the milk mixture.
in a separate bowl, sift flour, cocoa, baking soda and powder and salt. add to wet in 2 additions and stir until no large lumps left. pour into liners and bake 18 min. cool

vegan butter cream frosting
1/2 cup non-hydrogenated shortening (spectrum brand is excellent)
1/2 cup coconut oil or earth balance vegan margarine
4 cup organic powdered sugar (may need more or less, i think i needed more)
1 tsp vanilla extract
coconut milk (or organic soy milk) as needed

beat shortening and coconut oil or margarine together until creamed. add sugar and beat until combined. add vanilla. add milk if needed in small doses. may need to put it in the fridge for a bit.

frost cooled cupcakes. add some extra crushed cookies on the top. we colored the frosting with all natural food dyes to add some green for the mint flavoring.

littlefoodie had a party and everybody came..... vegan cupcakes, choco cupcakes and care wars

2008-08-12T09:49:00.000-07:00

littlefoodie will be 4 this friday. 4... oy! we had a nice little (or big) party for him this past saturday and i believe it was a great success. keg of Fat Tire-check, Zpizza, lots of it-check, care wars cake-check, teenage mutant ninja turtle-check, butt loads of fun-super check! we had to keep those happy child-free pals happily supplied in beer so the keg was a must. littlefoodie has had a genius idea for the last year now that involved an epic battle of bellies and light sabers. the cake was easy but the kids were stoked! i made some pretty tasty vegan mint cookiesncream cupcakes as well as some plain ol chocolate cupcakes that were to die for. here are a few highlights with the recipe too follow:

beachgreens bounty and celery root, garlic mashed potatoes

2008-08-08T07:58:00.000-07:00

we received our beachgreens bounty yesterday. beachgreens is a family run company that provides farm fresh, organic and sustainable veggies and fruits right to your door. the bounty is always amazing and delicious and believe me nothing ever goes to waste!

this week came home from a day of swimming and found our crate all ready for us. the crate included: a bag of greens, celery root, apples. grapes, blood red and almost purple juicy tomatoes, potatoes, squash, corn, green beans, cucumbers, onion and avocado and nectarine.

for dinner i made trader joe's hofbrau brats sausages, grilled. roasted veggies and celery root and garlic mashed potatoes. celery root being our featured beach greens item. littlefoodie ate it up and it was a nice little, east meal and definitely made more of plain ol mashed potatoes.

enjoy!

1 celery root- slice off top. with sharp knife, trim off roots and outside. its kind of like a hair, rooty turnip. dice up.
bunch of potatoes, peeled and diced into chunks.
4 garlic cloves, peeled and whole
butter
milk
salt and pepper
olive oil

gently boil celery root , garlic and potatoes until tender. roughly 20 min.
drain.
throw into bowl and mash with potato masher. add a few generous glugs of olive oil. 4-5-6 tbl unsalted butter... really, its to taste.
about 1/4 cup or more, depending on how you like it of warm milk. mash some more to how you like it. we prefer it just a little chunky.
season with salt and pepper. eat up.

littlefoodie summer mix 2008

2008-08-03T08:49:00.001-07:00

littlefoodie might be the most rock'n'roll ever, at this moment, at 4. most our summer has been about listening to music, swimming in the pool, trying to get our blonde locks the greenest of green, splashing in the ocean and oh, rocking out to music whenever and wherever!

these are the hits i like to call No More Mr. Nice Gus, Summer 2008 Mix.

ALICE COOPER SEEMS TO BE THE ALL TIME FAVORITE.

THE BLACK LIPS-BAD KIDS (DADDIES SUMMER FAV, NOW THE KIDS.. SOMETHING ABOUT THE LYRICS, "PENIS ON THE WALL".)

DEVENDRA BANHART- LONG HAIRED CHILD (this song, he tells me, is he and the dads song!)

BORIS THE SPIDER-THE WHO (MY LITTLE CLASSIC ROCKER)

vegan summer peach-coconut cobbler

2008-07-27T07:50:00.000-07:00

we received our beachgreens bounty of veggies and fruits thursday and it was overflowing! after a day of picking peaches at a friends house we ended up with more than we could eat. this summer peach cobbler is a great way to use up peaches and its vegan! what could be more of a treat! you can of course use unsalted butter for the coconut oil... i use coconut in place of all butter in recipes now and the ratios stay the same.

enjoy!

a bunch of fresh, ripe peaches- scrubbed clean and sliced (i used 6, maybe 8?)
1/4 cup organic pure maple syrup
cinnamon, nutmeg- as much as you would like
half the juice of 1 lemon
2 tsp cornstarch

-combine all together in a glass baking pan. set aside. preheat oven to 425F.

1 cup organic whole wheat flour
1/2 cup organic pure cane sugar
more cinnamon and nutmeg- add to your taste
1 tsp aluminum free baking powder
pinch of sea salt
1/2 cup unsweetened, organic flaked coconut
6 tbl unrefined, organic coconut oil
1/4 cup boiling water

comine flour thru coconut. with fingers mix in coconut oil until combined and grainy. stir in water and combine.
with spoon dollop over the peaches in baking dish. sprinkle with oatmeal and some cinnamon.

bake for 30-40 min until golden and bubbly.

lentils with bacon and leeks

2008-07-14T07:44:00.000-07:00

we received our bi-monthly beachgreens arrival last thursday and now have a fridge full of goodies. i did forget to snap a photo of the bounty but here is what it entailed: 1 cucumber, a dozen of the sweetest and smallest yellow summer squash, 4 small artichokes, basket of strawberries that littlefoodie ate in seconds flat after being washed, a few nectarines (best nectarines ever!), 2 avocados, bunch of leeks, 4 juicy and sweet beefsteak tomatoes, spinach, romaine, bag of romano beans (yeah!), couple ears of corn and some valencia oranges. a pretty good feast!
lentils are a pretty quick and hearty meal that you can throw together fairly quickly and let cook slowly on the stove while you, say, make playdough spaghetti and cover everything with sidewalk chalk. i served it along some grilled chicken and roasted veggies but the next day for a quick dinner we heated it up and topped it off with some romano cheese.

enjoy!

few slices of good quality, natural bacon, chopped
2 organic carrots, small diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 leek, sliced thin
1 sprig rosemary, chopped
1 1/2 cup lentils, rinsed
3 cup organic veggie or chicken broth or water
salt and pepper

saute bacon on med low, in dutch oven until cooked. add in leeks and garlic and rosemary. toss in lentils and broth. saute a few minutes. reduce heat to low and cover. cook 30-40 min. season to taste.

spicy beef on hummus with grilled veggies

2008-07-09T09:11:00.001-07:00

spicy beef on hummus with grilled veggies

we ate at a local lebanese restaurant the other day ...

See spicy beef on hummus with grilled veggies on Key Ingredient.

we ate at a local lebanese restaurant the other day for lunch. it was our first time there and while the service was terrible, (the waitress seemed to have the same common sense as a poodle) the food was pretty good. now nothing compares to Open Sesame, since that is our mediterranean restaurant of choice but they did serve a spiced beef on hummus dish that made us swoon. i never buy ground beef since i kind of have an aversion to it but this dish called for bovine and not poultry. i searched for recipes like this one and found it fairly simple- beef, onions, garlic, allspice, pine nuts and hummus. all good. i added a little extra lovin (sriracha sauce aka rooster sauce) to mix things up and served alongside roasted veggies. it was tasty! we decided next time to use ground chicken since ground beef always freaks me out after i've eaten it but man was it good.

enjoy!

spicey beef:

1 lb extra lean organic ground beef
1 small yellow onion, diced
4 garlic cloves, chopped
cinnamon- no measurements on the spices here, just added, tasted, added, tasted until it was right for us.
cumin
salt
pepper
allspice
teeny pinch of curry powder
big handful of pine nuts
6 tbl unsalted butter
olive oil
chopped parsley
sriracha sauce

saute onions and garlic in olive oil. add beef and cook on med heat. add spices, hot sauce, pine nuts and butter. cook for 30 min with lid on med heat. stir occasionally.

hummus:
2 cans organic garbanzo beans, drained
1/2 cup organic tahini sauce
1 lemon
3 garlic cloves
salt
olive oil

whip it all up in the food processor. add more olive oil, seasoning to taste.

roasted veggies:
cut up organic carrots and zucchini into match stick size pieces. toss with parsley, salt and pepper and olive oil. grill until tender.

heat up good quality pita bread. slather with hummus. top with beef and throw a handful of veggies on top. sprinkle with parsley and eat, eat, eat. oh, don't forget a big helping of hot sauce!

braised romano beans

2008-06-30T09:38:00.001-07:00

romano beans were one of the yummy organic veggies that came in our beachgreens.com delivery. every 2 weeks we get a crate of fresh, organic, locally grown veggies and fruits right on our doorstep. these long, green gems were delicious, and for a vegetarian this was a great meal with some wild rice or lentils. this is not my recipe...i found this recipe online and have given a direct link for it above. the only difference with my is i used yellow onion instead of red.

enjoy!

Marco Canora’s Braised Romano Beans
1 large red onion
2 stalks of celery
1 carrot
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
5 hand-crushed Roma tomatoes (or 1 12-oz. can crushed tomatoes)
1 1/2 lbs. Romano beans
Salt and pepper to taste
1/3 cup chopped basil

(1) Trim stem end of beans and cut larger ones in half. Set aside. (2) Finely chop the onion, celery, and carrot, and sauté them in olive oil with tomatoes for about 20 minutes until the soffritto, or sautéed vegetable mixture, turns pale gold. (3) Add Romano beans gradually and stir to coat well. Cover and cook over low heat, adding a couple of tablespoons of water if the mixture appears too dry. Cook for about 40 minutes, or until very soft but not falling apart. Season with salt and pepper, and finish with chopped basil.

BEACHGREENS BOUNTY

baby back ribs made the easy way... bbq'd beans and salad.

2008-06-30T09:15:00.000-07:00

we've been grilling a lot lately, like a lot of people around this time of year. i bought a rack of baby back ribs from trader joes and gave it a try. its my first time with ribs but they were pretty easy and came out super tender and delicious. while it did take time it didn't take effort... how great can that be when all you want to do is play outside, in the water, sucking on popsicles. the beans= equally as easy. and the salad featured the cucumbers and tomatoes from our beachgreens delivery. i know there are many who would fall over at the sight of someone basting those meaty little ribs with purchased bbq sauce but its hot and even though i do love to slave over a hot stove have some limitations.... stirring bbq sauce on the stove hit my limit of ughh, no thank you's. trader joe's makes a pretty good, slightly spicy kentucky bbq sauce.

enjoy!

EASY BABY BACK RIBS

1 rack baby back ribs
bbq sauce- used about 3/4 bottle
salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, paprika

preheat oven to 350.

sprinkle ribs, meat side up, with salt, pepper, onion and garlic powder and paprika. bake 20 min.

baste with sauce and continue baking another 20 min.

baste with more sauce and continue baking another 30 min.

fire up the grill and keep it on low. baste ribs with more sauce and grill another 20-30 min.

carve up and eat.

EASY BBQ'D BEANS

1 can organic kidney beans
1 can organic pinto beans
1/2 cup barbecue sauce
1 tbl dijon mustard
1 tbl organic ketchup

heat up until bubbly. reduce heat, cover and leave on low for 20-30 minutes.

beach greens bounty salad featuring ripe, blood red, sweet and juicy organic tomatoes and teeny, flavorful persian cucumbers.

quick and easy veggie coconut curry with black beluga lentils...and beachgreens arrival today!

2008-06-26T08:04:00.000-07:00

this is a quick and easy dish that you can throw together at the last minute. its hot and summertime and the last thing anyone wants, even those of us who actually prefer to slave away in a hot kitchen, is to slave away in a hot kitchen when there are remote control cars to kick ass, beaches to romp in and robots to build in the dirt.

also, we are receiving our first beachgreens crate of fresh veggies and fruit. beachgreens.com is a local company in long beach, dedicated to bringing fresh, organic and sustainable produce from the southern california farms to your door. the prices are crazy reasonable and it seems with this deal i will be saving about 30$ of what i normally spend a month. plus, the variety is so exciting for this mama. according to my confirmation email we will be receiving a nice bounty of: red leaf lettuce, tomato, carrots, leeks, avocado, white nectarines, romano beans, zucchini, persian cucumber, murkott tangerines, yellow peaches and strawberries. i have a meaty rack of baby back ribs slow cooking its way to my belly in the oven right now and i am sure it will be smiling on a plate next to our new bounty.

enjoy!

2 sweet potatoes, diced
handful of trader joes frozen tri colored melange of bell peppers
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup of frozen organic spinach
1 can organic garbanzo beans
1 package trader joes black beluga lentils
1 onion, diced
3/4 can of coconut milk
1/4 cup veggie broth
as much powdered curry as you like
salt and pepper

saute onions, garlic and sweet potatoes until soft, keep on medium heat. add curry powder and salt and pepper. throw in peppers, spinach, beans, lentils and saute another couple minutes. add in veggie broth and coconut milk. cook about 25 minutes or until everything is soft and flavorful. enjoy!

veg oil... it ain't just for fryin' anymore.

2008-06-22T20:29:00.000-07:00

Bigfoodie daddy is the guest poster of the day, blogging his might about our all "new" vegetable oil fueled car. a simple and relatively inexpensive process can save the earth for our kids/grandkids as well as saving our bank accounts. come on people, make a difference!

reduce, reuse, recycle!

What you are looking at is a well maintained 1984 Mercedes 300D Turbo Diesel in black. What may not be as obvious, but definitely more interesting, is the funny business going on under the hood. You see this little wonder has been converted from a stock diesel/biodiesel fuel burner into a WVO/SVO miracle machine. Well, maybe that is overstating things since the first diesel engines ran on peanut oil. Maybe we should call this is a return to roots for this machine with the added benefit of now burning a "carbon neutral fuel that emits no additional greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere than it consumed while it was growing."

Some background on the decision. For years the issue of Global Warming had been on my mind every time I sat in the driver's seat. But, when faced with a daily 50-mile commute there is not much you can do to get around driving. This is when I had first heard about people using vegetable oil as a fuel for converted diesel engines. At the time gas pricing had not escalated to the stratosphere and my pockets were not exactly overflowing. still aren't, so it seemed like a risky endeavor. Then time passed and soon enough conversion companies began popping up on the internet and customers of these businesses began posting comments offering the cautious enthusiast some foundation for making the decision to go vegoil. So, after much trawling I made my decision, and might I add at a great time economically. I mean just look at the ridiculously high price of gas.

I went with a conversion kit from the much internet-maligned company Lovecraft Biofuels (www.lovecraftbiofuels.com), and had i installed by a gem of a Mercedes mechanic named Frtiz Stutz. Now here is some info on why and how I made my decision.
1. Price. Lovecraft are the cheapest around. $695 for a kit. Had I been made of money I would have went for another company's kit based on their rep.
2. Warm Climate. Cold starting is the issue for veggie oil users nationwide. This is the reason for two tank systems (one diesel for starting and warming, then one vegoil to be switched to when the car is at operating temp). The SoCal Coast never freezes so this was not a concern for me.
3. Lack of concrete negative examples. I read a lot about how bad the Lovecraft conversions and how as a company they provided lousy customer service and were fascistic about censoring their message board, but I never found anything in concrete and certainly could not find any conversion users negative comments. All i could find was hearsay or the ramblings of folks who ran other companies. And all of their negatives revolved around frozen oil and cold starting, which I doubt I will ever have to deal with.
4. Mechanic feedback. I spoke with a couple of Mercedes Mechanics familiar with the process and they were very positive about the conversion and the use of a single tank. One even went so far to say he would never think of doing a two tank conversion because of the extensive additions to the car. Better to keep it as close to original as possible. I agree.

How does it run? Well, we have had the car, Mr. Bentley, running for about 1000 miles and so far I haven't taken a performance hit. The power is the same. On diesel it was getting 26 miles per gallon and on vegoil I am getting the same. The largest difference I can notice is the aroma. Gone is the chemical burn of Diesel as the car smells like whatever was cooked in the oil. I call it eau de frenchfry. And get this vegoil is actually better for the engine. it lubricates as it burns. How cool is that?

Anyway, so far so good. We are saving money, burning fewer greenhouse gasses, recycling and old auto, extending the life of that car and best of all riding in comfort. Did I mention the thing glides on the highway? For us the positives outweigh the negatives by a landslide. Hustling oil may not be fun with a reported 250,000 of us frybrid/greasers taking to the street but at the end of the day it has been worth it. And maybe even a little fun.

chocolate ganache and raspberry tart

2008-06-17T08:47:00.000-07:00

we barbecued for fathers day and stayed at home which was nice to get the drinking going and not having to drive anywhere! eating over rode the drinking though and this choco tart was the hit of the day. the daddy loves choco, dark chocolate to be exact so this incredibly simple tart was perfect and yummy next to the big fat burgers and creamy potato salad. the recipe is from the newest Bon Appetit but its nothing but a simple chocolate ganache topeed with sweet in season raspberries and a very flaky crust.

enjoy! (i just copied and pasted the recipe since i changed zero!)

1 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
3 tablespoons powdered sugar
2 large egg yolks
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon plus 1 1/2 teaspoons water
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
6 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons Kahlú a, other coffee flavored liqueur, or strong coffee
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups fresh raspberries (three 6-ounce containers)
3 tablespoons seedless raspberry jam

preparation

Using on/off turns, mix flour, butter, and sugar in processor until coarse meal forms.

Mix egg yolks, lemon juice, and 1 tablespoon water in small bowl. Add to processor; mix until moist clumps form. Gather dough into ball; flatten into disk. Wrap in plastic. Chill 30 minutes. DO AHEAD: Dough can be made 2 days ahead. Keep chilled.

Preheat oven to 375°F. Butter 9-inch diameter tart pan with removable bottom. Roll out dough on lightly floured work surface to 12-inch round. Fit dough into pan; trim overhang. Freeze 20 minutes.

Bake crust until golden, 25 minutes; cool.

Meanwhile, bring cream just to boil in small saucepan. Remove from heat. Add chocolate; stir until smooth. Stir in liqueur and vanilla. Cool ganache 15 minutes.

Transfer cooled crust to platter. Spoon chocolate ganache into crust and smooth top. Arrange raspberries atop chocolate. Stir raspberry jam and 1 1/2 teaspoons water in small saucepan over medium heat until smooth. Brush warm glaze over berries. DO AHEAD: Can be made 8 hours ahead. Cover and let stand at room temperature.

blueberry and coconut muffins

2008-06-11T08:50:00.000-07:00

3/4 cup organic virgin coconut oil, or unsalted butter
1/3 cup coconut milk
1 lg egg
1 egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cup organic whole wheat flour
1/2 cup pure cane sugar
1 1/2 tsp aluminum free baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 pkg blueberries
1 cup organic unsweetened coconut flakes

organic wheat germ
cinnamon
pure cane sugar
organic unsweetened coconut

preheat over to 400F. grease or line muffin tin with liners.

melt coconut oil or butter over low heat. turn off heat and whisk coconut milk, egg and yolk and vanilla.

with a fork stir together flour through salt. add to milk/butter mixture in saucepan. fold in blueberries and coconut.

spoon into lined muffin tin. combine enough wheat germ, cinnamon, sugar and coconut to sprinkle on top of each muffin. bake 18 minutes.

no bake blueberry cheesecake and trader joes real vanilla wafers to die for!

2008-06-09T09:05:00.000-07:00

it was party central here at littlefoodies dwelling. the grammi had a belated party with all the wild animals and we gorged on Domenico's amazing pizza in Belmont Shores and a creamy, dreamy food coma inducing blueberry cheesecake. the recipe hails from epicurious.com but we derailed from the original to make it all ours... littlefoodie was wholly insistent on making a blueberry cake and i was insistent on making some quick and easy.

oh, and i bought a tub of the Trader Joe's new cookies. i accidentally threw away the tub before i tossed it out but they'll be back. the real vanilla wafers, (as i believe they were called) had real flakes of madagascar vanilla and so rich and buttery.. they made the most amazing crust for the sweetness of the blueberries! try out these cookies and you will be hooked.. oh, and they don't taste half bad with a dollop of tangy lemon curd on top!

enjoy!

crust:
3/4 box of trader joe's real vanilla wafers (cause i had 1/4 of the box the night before!)
1/2 cup organic oats
5 tbl organic virgin coconut oil or unsalted butter, melted

-blend all together in the food processor or saucessor as littlefoodie calls it.
press into spring form pan and bake at 350f for 14 minutes.
remove and set aside.

filling:
1/4 cup water
1 tbl plain gelatin
8 oz organic cream cheese
4 oz mascarpone cheese (or you can stick with 4 oz cream cheese)
1 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup organic pure cane sugar
juice of 1 lemon
1 bag thawed frozen unsweetened organic blueberries (again, trader joes frozen blueberries are out of sight!)

-pour water in small saucepan and sprinkle gelatin over it. let sit for 10 minutes. heat pan on low and stir until gelatin dissolves. set aside.
blend cheeses through lemon juice in food processor. add berries and warm gelatin. pour into crust and chill overnight.

topping:
lemon curd ( i usually make it but i was in a pinch and used trader joes jarred which is pretty good.)
3-4 baskets of blueberries
blackberry jam

a couple of hours before serving spread lemon curd over top. melt jam in pan and toss with berries to make a glaze. pile on top of cake. put back in fridge for a couple hours.

serve and eat.

cinnamon, banana and coconut muffins

2008-06-05T09:18:00.000-07:00

i fussed with this recipe to get it to our tastes.it was so fatty, which we aren't afraid of over here but i prefer the good fats. the sugar amount was way higher and 4 eggs was pushing it. a muffin should not conquer the thighs, it should provide something worthy right? i am all for a donut (or heavenly apple fritter) every once in a while but that's about twice a year. so i did some rearranging. coconut oil replaces the butter, 1 banana and an extra 1/2 tsp of baking soda replace 2 lg eggs and flax seed bump up the health factor. a little coconut for some extra lovin!
they came out soft, springy and delicate. they could easily be made vegan with another banana and another 1/4 tsp baking soda. next time we'll try that.
enjoy!

1 cup organic, virgin coconut oil
1/2 cup organic pure cane sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla
2 lg eggs
1 very ripe banana, mashed (about 1/2 cup)
2 cups organic whole wheat flour
2 tsp aluminum free baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup organic, unsweetened coconut
1/2 tsp cinnamon

streusel:
3/4 cup organic whole wheat flour
1/4 cup organic dark brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup flax seed meal
1/4 cup organic virgin coconut oil

preheat oven to 350F. line muffin tin with unbleached liners.

beat coconut oil and sugar together. add vanilla and eggs one by one. beat in banana.

combine flour and baking soda and cinnamon. add to wet ingredients slowly. stir in coconut. the batter is dry, kind of like cookie dough... its okay!

for the streusel: combine flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, flax seed meal and coconut oil with fingers.

pour a couple tbls into tin and top with 1 TB streusel. top with more batter over streusel. if you have left over streusel when you are done with this step then sprinkle some on the top before baking.

bake 20 min. and

cranberry double chocolate cookies

2008-05-30T23:14:00.000-07:00

these little dreams are from epicurious.com but of course littlefoodie and i changed it up to suit our tastes. they are soft, chewy, chocolatey and good.

enjoy!

1 1/4 cups organic white whole wheat flour
3/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
Scant 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 cup organic dark brown sugar
2 large organic eggs
1 bag dark chocolate chunks (used whole foods brand! good!!!!)
1 cup dried cranberries

preheat oven to 375°F.

whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl.

Beat together butter and brown sugar with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, then add eggs 1 at a time, beating until combined well. reduce speed to low and add flour mixture, mixing until just combined. Add chocolate chunks and cherries and mix until just incorporated.

Drop 2 level tablespoons of dough per cookie about 2 inches apart onto 2 ungreased large baking sheets. With dampened fingers, flatten cookies slightly.

Bake, switching position of sheets halfway through baking, until puffed and set, 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer cookies to a rack to cool.

vitamin water is poison.

2008-05-25T08:34:00.000-07:00

(littlefoodie says, "vitamin water? gag me with a spoon!")

just wanted to link to a great post from Cleaner Plate Club about that nasty flavored water called Vitamin Water.
the breakdown- crystalline fructose is a fancy word for high fructose corn syrup. HFCS are bad bad bad for the body, especially little growing ones. and the companies are deceptive and find many a word to mislead you. do your homework before you put that junk inside you!!!!
and this disgusting sweetener also contains arsenic- ya know, poison... it is amazing how low companies can go and how uninformed people are.

applesauce muffins a la Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld

2008-05-21T08:53:00.000-07:00

so i gave in and bought the book, Deceptively Delicious. i have seen many of the recipes floating around the internet for years and never really have a need to hide the veggies my littlefoodie is eating but curiosity bowled me over. i've already tried several of the muffins recipes, all which turned out horribly. the taste was good but they never baked. i realized that the recipes are just really poorly written and most need a lot of pep and love added to make the flavors more flavorful. i did however make these applesauce muffins and to my surprise they came out on time, not needing double baking time to produce a watery mess. i'll refrain from posting the other recipes cause they were so bad but this, with a little doctoring worked.

and on a side note, little foodie family is greatly reducing their footprint, as of tonight we will be the proud owners of a frybrid...a veg oil fueled car! i am so excited and feel like we are making a real difference... suck that oil companies!!!!!

(i added a little extra lovin' to this recipe so it is not adapted slightly.)

topping:
2/3 cup organic oats
1/4 cup organic pure cane dark brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tbl organic virgin coconut oil, melted (could use unsalted butter instead but coconut oil is sooooo good for you! we use spectrum brand)

muffin batter:
1 1/2 cups organic whole wheat flour
1 cup organic oats
1 tsp aluminum free baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup organic sweet potato puree
1/2 cup almond milk (or whatever milky substance you have on hand)
1/2 cup organic carrot puree
1/2 cup organic pure cane dark brown sugar
1/4 cup veg oil (for the car and the muffins!!!! whoopee!!!!)
1 lg organic egg

combine topping ingredients in small bowl. set aside.

preheat oven to 400 F and line muffin tins with unbleached muffin liners.

for the batter: combine flour thru cinnamon and mix with fork in bowl. in a large bowl, combine vanilla thru egg and stir until combined. add flour and stir JUST UNTIL MIXED.

pour evenly into muffin tins and top with streusel topping. bake 20 min. now eat!

its been awhile... again.

2008-05-14T09:39:00.000-07:00

life has been busy and all over the place. my time devoted to this blog gets slashed when the sun comes up and the kid wants to run. i've got a bunch of things ready to post and a little self review of the dishes from Jessica Seinfeld's Deceptively Delicious cookbook.... curiosity got the best of me and we are trying out its worth. until tomorrow!!!!

(some pics for the folks)

rockabye by rebecca wolf.... read it now!

2008-04-14T08:49:00.000-07:00

wanna read a great book that'll make you laugh, cry, think and relate way too much too? rockabye is beautiful and smart and full of love... impeccably written. i'm glad to call this lady a friend of mine and can't wait to cheer her on at her next book reading/signing tomorrow night!!!!
thanks for opening you're world up to us and for making me feel less alone about my parenting ways. can't wait for the next one!

hop on over to http://girlsgonechild.blogspot.com/ for more info on tour dates and book ordering info, etc.

may the force be with you, tony....

2008-03-14T09:09:00.000-07:00

i have been wanting to write something...following up to Tony's benefit concert as well as he and his wife's on going (until the end) struggle with those venomous insurance companies but words really escaped me. the long beach press telegram posted a nice piece on tony-describing his amazing, full of life silly self and the way he created a whirlwind of friends and family around him who only thought the greatest of him. there is nothing to say and never will be enough words to write about how he will be missed and how a void will grow in his physical absence...we have hilarious, awesome and star wars filled memories that will last our lifetimes!

you'll be missed, dude.

(here is the piece lifted from the long beach press telegram, out today.)

Tony Carbone, LBUSD teacher

OBITUARY: Lee Elementary teacher lost 2-year battle with cancer, died March 7.
By Kevin Butler, Staff Writer
Article Launched: 03/13/2008 10:24:59 PM PDT

LONG BEACH - Tony Carbone's life was shaped by two passions: teaching and music.

His parents were teachers and he had worked as a sound engineer while playing in a band after graduating college.

But his love of children led him eventually to follow his family and become a teacher at Lee Elementary School in the Long Beach Unified School District.

"He felt that teaching was a profession that he could really be happy in and rewarded ... but also (be able) to pursue music" in his spare time, said his wife Sinnamon.

Carbone, who had struggled with complications from advanced melanoma for more than two years, died March 7. He was 34.

As a teacher, Carbone really connected with children, holding picnics for them and taking them to movies, said Sinnamon, who also teaches in the LBUSD.

"He was himself with his kids," she said. "He didn't draw those super-strict boundaries that we were taught to draw as professionals."

Music was his other passion. Carbone played guitar and sang in the local band Bikeride, which was written up in Rolling Stone magazine and toured in Japan, she said.

Carbone and his wife in December 2005 had just bought a new house in Bluff Heights and were planning eventuallyto have a family down the line when Carbone was suddenly diagnosed with advanced melanoma, a type of skin cancer.

Six months later, the cancer had spread, creating tumors in his brain, leading to multiple surgeries and other medical

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complications.
Carbone showed strength and calmness while dealing with his illness, Sinnamon said.

"He was so positive," she said.

Sinnamon said that the couple appreciated the generosity shown by family, friends and strangers who gave money to help pay for expenses during Tony's illness.

The couple received about $100,000 from two benefit concerts, a silent auction and donations from people who learned of the couple's plight from a Press-Telegram article in January, she said.

"The outpouring of support and money that people donated was really incredible," she said.

Carbone's positive attitude and kindness touched many children's lives, she said.

"I think they learned from the way he approached life," she said. "He was so full of life ... and I think that really rubbed off on the kids."

The family requests that donations be made to the American Melanoma Foundation. Checks can be mailed to AMF 12395 El Camino Real, Suite 117, San Diego, CA 92130, or visit www.melanoma foundation.org.

sourdough sesame bread

2008-03-07T10:01:00.000-08:00

its been awhile. a month ago i got a wild hair in my brain and decided to make a sourdough starter to use in a million different things...which we have been doing with much success...its still alive and bubbling and kicking it in the back of our over
stocked fridge. this is just one of the gazillion recipes i will be posting in honor of the beloved sourdough. this is a great sandwich bread..we've been indulging in salami sandwiches with it!
i suppose i should post the starter at some point but since its been a while and life is dealing its heavy hand right now it'll have to wait on better days!

(the photo sucks...sorry. it doesn't quite do this bread justice)
enjoy!

1 1/2 cups sourdough starter
1/2 cup plus 3 tbl warm water
2 tsp sea salt
2 tbl olive oil
1 tbl sugar
3 1/2 cups unbleached ap flour

combine all in stand mixer with dough hook. turn out onto floured board and knead about 10-15 min until elastic and not too sticky...add flour as needed. let rest on counter 10 min.

grease a clean large glass bowl and add the dough, turning to coat in the oil. cover loosely with a damp towel and let rise about 4-8 hours. (sourdough takes longer than the average bread.)

turn out again and knead a few minutes. shape into 2 loaves. cover with damp cloth and let rise once more...about 2 hours.

brush with a mixture of eggs and water then sprinkle with sesame seeds.

bake at 350F for 30 min.

the tony carbone benefit concert

2008-01-24T08:36:00.000-08:00

cancer is the enemy..

2008-01-16T08:42:00.000-08:00

one year ago this past christmas our dear friend tony carbone had a massive tumor growing in his brain that nearly killed him. this battle has been constant with the worst was diagnosed just recently. unfortunately for tony and his wife sinnamon they were denied use of a preventitive medicine all thanks to those lousy insurance companies we know to hate.

on feb 2. there will be a benefit concert to help fund the costs of tony's meds. below i have copy and pasted the information on this event as well as a recent interview that they made to the press telegram. there is a myspace page dedicated to this benefit as well as an address for doantions.

his fight has been hard and sad...we continue to think the best for them every morning, every night and every day. this benefit is an example of the love that surrounds them and the kind of warm and awesome people they are.

the title will take you directly to the myspace page dedicated to the tony carbone benefit show.
http://www.myspace.com/topdogmax

HERE IS AN LITTLE BIT OF INFO FROM MYSPACE:
Two years ago, Tony Carbone was diagnosed with Stage IV melanoma â€” the most aggressive and life threatening form of skin cancer â€” which spread to his brain.

But the 34-year-old elementary school teacher for the Long Beach United School District is an amazing fighter. Since Tonyâ€™s initial diagnosis, the cancer has spread to his brain four different times. Because of the resulting brain tumors, Tony has paralysis in his left leg and has lost vision in his right eye. He has undergone six brain surgeries, whole-brain radiation and chemotherapy. This past Christmas he almost died, but eventually pulled through.

All of this has been a tremendous financial strain on Tony and his wife, Sinnamon. Tonyâ€™s response to treatment thus far has been successful and his doctors are recommending a drug called Avastin to supplement his intensive therapy.

Research indicates that Avastin is very successful in treating melanoma. However, his insurance company, Blue Shield, has denied coverage for the drug, calling it â€œexperimentalâ€.

Tony and Sinnamon appealed this decision by sending literature about the use of Avastin with melanoma patients and records from five other major insurance companies that have approved Avastin for patients with melanoma. The Powers That Be reviewed the information and concluded that while sufficient evidence shows that this medication can be effective for the treatment of melanoma, they do not approve it for this particular case.

With his insurance company denying the Avastin treatment, Tony and his wife have nowhere to turn. The Avastin cycle recommended by Tonyâ€™s doctor will cost $30K.

Tonyâ€™s family and friends are organizing a fundraiser to help pay for the cost of this treatment. A benefit concert featuring The Aquabats, Supernova and a special guest will be held Saturday, February 2, 2008 at The Glasshouse in Pomona, Calif.

In addition to the money raised from ticket sales, there will be a silent auction and a raffle of donated items that night. If you are able to, we ask that you donate an item for the silent auction or raffle. Further information about how and where to donate can be obtained online at www.myspace.com/topdogmax.

Thank you for your support.

Confirmed donors thus far:

Nike, Maroon 5, Kit Pistol, Plexifilm, Punk Rock Confidential, Dogpile Clothing, Fred Segal, Warner Avenue Animal Hospital, Warped Tour, Bamboozle Left, Aquabats, Supernova, Fluf, more confirmations coming in daily

INTERVIEW WITH TONY AND SINNAMON CARBONE FROM PRESS TELEGRAM (LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA)
Dear Family and Friends,
This article came out in the press telegram today.

Cancer shadows L.B. teacher's future
Although supported in part by the generosity of
colleagues and family, couple faces overwhelming
financial burden.
By Kevin Butler, Staff writer
Article Launched: 01/15/2008 10:15:46 PM PST
http://www.presstelegram.com/ci_7982593

LBUSD teachers Sinnamon and Tony Carbone deal with
health insurance rejection and mounting bills as they
face Tony s brain cancer diagnosis. (Kathi Kent / For
the Press-Telegram)
LONG BEACH - About two years ago, Long Beach teacher
Tony Carbone and his wife Sinnamon were about to start
the next stage of their lives.
The couple, both teachers in the Long Beach Unified
School District, had just bought a new house in Bluff
Heights.

Tony was about to complete a master's degree in
educational technology, while Sinnamon was preparing
to start a business teaching Pilates at home to earn
extra money to help pay for their mortgage.

At that point, they had envisioned starting a family
in the next couple of years. But in December 2005,
those plans were halted when they discovered a
5-centimeter-wide bump on Tony's waist.

Tony Carbone, 34, was diagnosed with advanced
melanoma, a type of skin cancer, which six months
later had spread to create tumors in his brain.

Since his diagnosis, he has undergone six surgeries -
three of them invasive - while the couple has
struggled to keep afloat financially and battled with
an insurance company and the LBUSD to get
authorization for a treatment his oncologist says is
needed to extend Tony's life.

Tony said he had been a healthy person who was rarely
sick.

"Surreal is the best way to describe how it feels and
you just get frustrated when your life keeps getting
put on hold," he said.

Since his diagnosis, Tony has had medical
ups-and-downs. On Christmas night in 2006, while
visiting relatives in Palm Desert, he nearly died
after being rushed to the hospital

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when he complained of headaches and severe pain.
Tony, whose tumor was hemorrhaging, was saved only by
an emergency brain surgery, but was left partially
blind in his right eye.

The couple got some good news seven weeks ago, when a
scan showed no additional tumor growth. That
development allowed Tony to return to work at Lee
Elementary on Jan. 4 of this year.

Although still suffering from bruised ribs caused by a
fall about a month earlier, Tony was encouraged by his
oncologist to return to his job.

"He was exhausted, but he loved seeing the kids,"
Sinnamon said.

The couple saw a dramatic reversal in Tony's medical
fortunes less than a week later when an MRI showed two
new tumors. Also devastating was the knowledge that
cancer cells had seeped into his cerebrospinal fluid,
Sinnamon said.

Tony didn't return to his teaching job. He has tried
to remain optimistic during his ordeal, but it's been
difficult.

"It just seems every time I was in the clear, then
something came up," Tony said. "Everyone says melanoma
is so insidious. It's so hard to get rid of, and it's
so aggressive. It's like a monster living in your
body."

Tony Carbone began teaching nine years ago, after
spending time working as a sound engineer designing
speakers.

He didn't have to look far for inspiration. Both his
parents and Sinnamon's were teachers.

"I love working with inner-city kids," Tony said.

Tony also likes the other teachers at Lee. Teachers
and staff at Lee and at Renaissance High School, where
Sinnamon works, have contributed the bulk of nearly
200 donated sick days to Tony so that he can keep
getting his full salary.

But there is a limit to how many sick days he can use,
and Tony in the near future will have to go on
disability, Sinnamon said.

His disability insurance for two years will pay him
about 75 percent of his teacher's salary, a figure
that will drop to 50 percent after that, she said.

Meanwhile, his wife is running out of days to use to
take care of her husband.

"I don't know what's going to happen" after the days
run out, Sinnamon said. "It's difficult. Not only does
Tony need my care ... but he needs me around for moral
support, too."

The illness has forced Sinnamon to put her Pilates
business on hold, depriving her of income that she and
her husband were counting on to help pay the mortgage.

Tony, before his illness struck, had nearly finished
his master's degree - an achievement that would have
led to a salary bump at the LBUSD.

The couple also has struggled to get insurance
payments for a treatment that his oncologist has
recommended. Tony is on the school district's
self-funded insurance plan, which has Blue Shield of
California as its claims administrator.

The couple has fought to get coverage for the
medication Avastin, which inhibits tumor growth by
blocking the formation of new blood vessels.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the
use of the drug for patients with metastatic
colorectal cancer and certain types of lung cancer.

Although not yet approved for melanoma, the drug has
been recommended by Carbone's oncologist as an
effective use for that condition.

Sinnamon Carbone said that the doctor, affiliated with
the Hoag Cancer Center Facility in Newport Beach, has
prescribed the medication to other patients with
melanoma whose insurance companies have paid for the
treatment.

Blue Shield denied coverage of the medication, saying
that there was insufficient evidence in peer-reviewed
journals to show its safety and effectiveness in
treating metastatic melanoma.

But Sinnamon said that her attorney provided numerous
peer-reviewed studies that have shown its safety and
effectiveness.

After exhausting appeals with Blue Shield, Sinnamon
said she asked the LBUSD to override the company's
decision and authorize payment for the treatment.

That request was denied in December, Sinnamon said,
leaving the couple to begin fund-raising to pay for
the $30,000 Avastin regimen.

A spokeswoman for Blue Shield of California said she
could not comment on Tony's case because of a federal
medical privacy law.

Chris Eftychiou, an LBUSD spokesman, also said that he
could not comment on the specifics of the case due to
medical confidentiality.

Family donations helped to pay for the first dose of
Avastin, which cost $5,000.

Despite the lack of coverage, Tony went ahead and
received the second dose this month, and the couple
hopes to raise money to pay for that bill, as well as
the remaining four doses, taken every other week.

What disturbs Sinnamon is the thought that the delay
in getting Avastin may have contributed to the
reappearance of her husband's tumors this month.

The couple is trying to raise money to pay for the
Avastin and other financial hardships.

"We don't want to lose our house," Sinnamon said.

They now are waiting for Blue Shield's approval for a
type of radiation therapy that the company has
authorized in the past, she said.

"We hope to have (approval) as soon as possible,"
Sinnamon said. "Every night I got to bed thinking the
tumors could start bleeding and Christmas night could
happen all over again."

Today, Tony is scheduled to have a stint implanted
into the base of his skull to allow for the delivery
of chemotherapy drugs.

A benefit concert, featuring the band The Aquabats,
will be held for Tony at 7 p.m. on Feb. 2 at The Glass
House in Pomona, 200 W. 2nd St. Tickets can be bought
from Ticketmaster.

A silent auction will be held Feb. 23 from 3 to 6 p.m.
at DiPiazza's, 5204 E. Pacific Coast Highway, Long
Beach.

Donations also can be made by writing a check made out
to Tony Carbone and mailing it to Harva Carbone, 9751
La Zapatilla Circle, Fountain Valley, CA 92708.

veggie and turkey pasta casserole

2008-01-07T17:50:00.000-08:00

i am not a fan of casseroles. i think the word casserole conjours up ideas of cream of blah something, pounds of butter, some sort of canned meat product, etc...not the kind of thing i look for in a dinner for myself or my family. with all that being said, it is a fairly drawing idea of putting a whole meal together in one pan and baking it up, not much different from a soup really. x-mas has finally ended for us with the departure of bigfoodie daddy off today for work for the first time since before x-mas. cleaning up the fridge helped me put together this litte casserole of sorts. shredded carrots, chopped leftover broccoli, ground turkey, frozen/thawed garlic marinara, penne, cheese....that was the list of ingredients i had on hand to throw together this little ditty. it came out yummy, creamy and not what i think of when i think of casserole (tuna casserole anyone?). the best part is littlefoodie, who although will really eat most anything with just some subtle encouragment took this down like a champ even with carrots being involved! the veggies all hidden in that cheesy mess is the best part!

enjoy!

1 lb ground turkey
1 yellow onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
few handfuls of sliced mushroooms, (i used the pre sliced bagged stuff from trader joes)
2 cups chopped cooked broccoli
3 carrots, shredded
2 cups marinara sauce or your favorite red sauce
1 tsp dried oregano
salt and pepper to taste
1/3 cup unbleached flour
2 1/2 cups milk
pinch of nutmeg
1/2 cup mozarella cheese, shredded
1/2 cup provolone, shredded
1/4 cup parmesan, shredded
1 bag whole wheat penne pasta or your fav pasta, cooked al dente

saute turkey, onion and garlic until cooked. add in mushrooms, broccoli and carrots. toss in marinara sauce and oregano and season with salt and pepper if needed. simmer 10 min then set aside.

add flour to pan and whisk in milk. heat pan to med heat and bring to boil; reduce and simmer until thick stirring constantly. stir in nutmeg, salt and fresh ground pepper. stir in cheeses.

stir meat/veggie mixture, pasta and cheese together in a casserole dish. top with either a little reserved cheese sauce or some fresh grated paremesan cheese. bake 1 hr at 350F or until warmed thru.

white chicken chili

2008-01-06T09:38:00.000-08:00

its been raining here and cold so chili is a nice little comfort on a windy and wet day. this is a little bit different than your regular chili but just perfect when you don't want the same ol tomato based chili. i've been making this recipe for years and lost it about 3 yrs ago...while cleaning out the fridge i found it all wet and soggy underneath and made it that night. its good with some corn chips sprinkled on top and even better the next day.

enjoy!

1/4 cup unsalted butter
1 yellow onion, chopped
3 garlc cloves, minced
1 cup organic corn
1/4 cup unbleached flour
1 1/2 cup low sodium organic chicken broth
1 cup half and half
1 can organic evaporated milk
few splashes of tabasco sauce
1 tbl chili powder
1 tbl cumin powder
1 whole rotisserie chicken, shredded
1 can cannelini beans, drained
1 4 oz can diced green chilies, drained
1 cup grated monterey jack cheese
handful of chopped cilantro

melt butter in saucepan over low heat; add onions, garlic and corn until tender. stir in flour and cook about 10 min, stirring constantly. slowly pour in chicken broth, half and half and evaporated milk, stir constantly. bring to boil and reduce to a low simmer until thickened.
stir in tabasco, chili powder, cumin, chicken, beans, chiles, and cheese and cook 20-30 minutes. add cilantro and serve.

happy new year and a pizza pie

2008-01-01T09:05:00.000-08:00

happy new year to all! last night we spent our new years eve eating some right on food! i recieved how to be a domestic goddess by nigella lawson for x-mas this year and have been thumbing through that book for days typically i make timpano for x-mas...a big ol' pie filled with meatballs, eggs, red sauce, cheese, meats, etc. all wrapped in a pastry. this year i decided on nigella's pizza rustica and wow, were we blown away. the pastry crust (for me at least) was thin and dry and seemed much to be desired. after a little fixing up and smooshing it into place in the pan it came out beynd amazing...flaky and moist and buttery. it tasted great served with a little marinara over it. i tweaked the recipe a little and added extra meats so i am posting my version. i am thinking the addition of good green olives would be magic but then there are endless ways to add to this dish.

enjoy!

pastry crust:
1 2/3 cup unbleached ap flour
1/2 cup cold unsalted butter, diced
2 lg egg yolks
2 tbl ice water
1 heaping tsp of sea salt
1 tbl sugar

the filling!:
4 italian sausages, casings removed and fried until cooked, crumbling up and cool
8 oz of good quality ricotta
1 1/2 cup sharp provolone, diced small
2-2 1/4 cup diced mozarella
1/2 cup grated fresh parmesan
2 garlic cloves, minced
handful of fresh parsley, chopped
few pinches of crushed red pepper
4 oz proscuitto, cut into small pieces
4 oz mortadella, cut into small pieces
4 oz salami, cut into small pieces
4 oz coppa, cut into small pieces
2 lg eggs
fresh ground black pepper
breadcrumbs

glaze:
egg yolk
2 tbl half and half
pinch of sea salt

put flour and butter in a dish and stick in freezer for bout 10 min. ( smart step from nigella! don't skip it!) stir together yolks, salt, water in a cup and put in fridge until flour is done. remove flour/butter and toss into food processor, add the sugar and pulse until small granules form. slowly add egg mixture and pulse util JUST COMBINED..DO NOT OVER MIX. remove and form into a ball. split in half, one half slightly larger and wrap in plastic. put in fridge for a few hours to chill.

preheat oven to 400F and put a large baking sheet in. unwrap dough and roll out larger one. place in 8-9in springform pan and press to get it all in. sprinkle bottom of dough with breadcrumbs.

combine the cooled italian sausage thru black pepper and sitr it all up to combine. pour into pan. roll out smaller disc and drap over top. crimp and press to seal and fit. combines the egg yolk, milk and salt for glaze and brush over top. poke holes with fork to release steam.

place it on the baking sheet in oven and bake 10 min. turn down heat to 350F and bake 45 min.

remove and let cool 15-25 min before serving.

merry x-mas eats!

2007-12-30T08:59:00.000-08:00

christmas could not have been more perfect and mellow. the food came out delicious and the family and friends ate it up. littlefoodie got the best gift ever...a marble race track that he has not stopped playing since he ripped open the box...the best part is its totally fun for the parents too..whee! i've been meaning to hop in here and post pics and recipes but big foodiedaddy and i were hit with the holiday pukefest..10 hours of x-rated, toilet hugging wretching. lucky for us littlefoodie is that one weird kid that never gets sick and has some sort of x-men-ish ability to ward off germs.
so we are recovering and hoping to be back in the game for new years so i can make my famous timapno and creme brulee. for now i'll leave you with photos of our x-mas brunch spread...the recipes will have to come later since i am only working with half a mind today.

enjoy!

ginger doughnuts (the hit of the brunch)

overnight cofeecake

maple, mustard and rosemary sausages

ham, leek and three cheese quiche (best quiche recipe, hands down!)

sugared cranberries

roasted garlic broccoli and home fries

x-mas brunch will be our bounty

2007-12-22T09:24:00.000-08:00

this year i am hosting brunch with half of my family. with a million neices and nephews, families scattered here and there for various reasons we'll be opening our doors for some of the littlefoodie brood..as well as some good friends. i am slowly going crazy trying to figure out how i will be doing it all. the menu was created, i already shopped and now i am fine tuning my attack. the morning of x-mas there are way way way too many presents to open, family to greet and a littlefoodie all beside himself with santa enthusiasm...how will it all get done? i worry and then it turns out...always! i'll be posting recipes and pics soon as the holidays are done kicking my butt. and since the kitchen is overflowing and the cookies are coming out of my ears i will leave you with one fluffy, happy, hairy and festive x-mas brunch menu. sound good to you?

enjoy!

pomegranate-ginger champagne cocktail (the crown jewel of the meal...at least for me!)
apple cider
egg nog
coffee
orange juice
overnight cinnamon/walnut coffeecake
ham, leek and three cheese quiche
sugared cranberries (easy to make and sooooo delicious!)
spicy, sweet almonds
spicy mustard and rosemary breakfast sausages (so much better than pre-made)
home fries with peppers
homemade ginger donuts (i am way too excited to make these babies!)
roasted broccoli with gremolata
beautiful grapes from the farmers market

the best gingerbread cookies ever!

2007-12-20T09:40:00.000-08:00

a couple weeks ago littlefoodie took a trip to the coolest children's museum in town. the discovery science center in santa ana, california (click on the header for direct link to recipe) is a fun place for littleones of all ages. they are featuring an exhibit called the science of gingerbread. truth be told the exhibit was seriously lacking in luster but the recipe that we took away from will last forever! i can say this is the best gingerbread recipe i have encountered. using the usual unbleached flour (white whole wheat unbleached is what we used), pure cane organic sugar, unsulphured organic molasses it made them even better using pure, real ingredients. the pictures doesn't do our bounty justice but sadly we ate them all up before those fiesty gingerbread ran away as fast as they could. littlefoodie is now a pro at dough rolling and cutting out...makes me proud! give these a try and you won't be let down...just make sur eto eat them up quick before they dash for the door!!!

Ingredients:

3 Cups All Purpose Flour
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
3/4 Teaspoon Baking Soda
2/3 Cup Molasses
2 Teaspoons Ground Ginger
1/4 Teaspoon Ground Nutmeg
1/2 Cup Granulated White Sugar
1/2 Cup Unsalted Butter (Room Temperature)
1 Large Egg
1 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
1/4 Teaspoon Ground Cloves

Directions:

In a large bowl, sift or whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, and spices. Set aside. In the bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy (an electric mixer works best). Add the egg and molasses and beat until well combined. Gradually add the flour mixture beating until incorporated.

Divide the dough in half, and wrap each half in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least two hours or overnight.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and place rack in center of oven. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside while you roll out the dough. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to a thickness of about 1/4 inch. Use a gingerbread cutter to cut out the cookies. With a spatula, lift the cookies onto the baking sheet, placing the cookies about 1 inch apart.

Bake for about 8 - 12 minutes depending on the size of the cookies. They are done when they are firm and the edges are just beginning to brown.

Confectioners Frosting:

2 cups confectioners sugar (icing or powdered sugar), sifted
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 tablespoons milk or light cream
Assorted food colors (if desired)

chocolate peppermint cake with choco-peppermint icing

2007-12-19T18:04:00.000-08:00

this is another one of those amazing martha stewart recipes. like the marshmallows i posted the link in the header to take you right to the recipe...i am too lazy to type it all out! this was like a dense fudgy brownie type cake and the ganache icing...delicious! a perfect holiday elegant dessert. i know everyone who ate it up had good things to say! i did use milk chocolate chips instead of semi-sweet and dark chocolate chips instead of semi-sweet as well...the results were amazing! give it a try!

enjoy!

homemade candy cane marshmallows

2007-12-18T10:23:00.000-08:00

straight from martha stewarts archives these little treats are way too yummy and cute for little hands not to get all sticky from. littlefoodie just about fell over when he saw was mama was making. unfortunatley, this is one project he couldn't "assist" me in. i think he was happy in the end though...skipped out the hard work and went straight for the goods! the marshmallows are also very tasty dropped in a steaming cup of coffee!

this holiday has been the most fun so far...littlefoodie foodie is all wrapped up in santa and presents and decorations and snowmen and baking..the older he gets the more i see that x-mas magic gleaming in his eyes and it makes gaining ten pounds and almost wanting to jump off a bridge from holiday stress bearable....this is one of those times when having a little one at home makes life so much more exciting.

try these marshmallows and you will be bound for addiction!

enjoy!

red flannel hash with ham

2007-12-17T09:14:00.001-08:00

i haven't had red flannel hash in ages. i remember eating it with canned beets and canned corned beef..thats not how things roll in this house. roasted beets are beyond easy and much better than sweet beets packed in a aluminum can. throw ome cleaned beets in foil and glugg a little bit of olive oil over. roast on 450F for an hour or until soft when a knife slids thru them. perfection! you could also use bacon in place of ham or some leftover roast if on hand too! either way its always delicous!

(stay tuned for chocolate peppermint cake, homemade peppermint marshmallows and gingerbread cookies!)
enjoy!

1 lb small red potatoes, diced
2 cups ham, diced
1 yellow onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
5 roasted or boiled beets, diced
2 tbl dijon mustard
1/2 cup milk
dash of paprika
2 tbl chopped parsley
salt and pepper
4 eggs, fried

boil potatoes until tender. drain.

heat oil in pan and saute onions and garlic. add ham and cook until browned on med heat. toss in beets and cook 10 min.
stir mustard into milk and season with salt and pepper and paprika. add to potato and beet mixture. cook until heated through. season if needed. top with fried eggs.

oompa toys is where its at!

2007-12-11T16:13:00.000-08:00

if you are looking for great natural, wooden and imaginative toys look no further. i fell in love with this online store the minute i stumbled upon them while searching for that right kitchen for littlefoodie. they carry Haba toys and if you haven't heard of them i suggest you check them out...the cutest safe, wooden toys i have ever seen...littlefoodie is getting a handful of haba toy food for x-mas.
they have an great little rewards program and you get points for items you purchase. obviously the larger the amount the more the points but you get money off for your next purchases and when you get addicted like i have you will love that little money off deal! their toys are safe and foster imaginative play..what more can a parent want especially if you are like us and staying away from the plastic lumpy bells and whistle toys.

we ordered this educo kitchen for littlefoodie from santa. it came quick and is cute. the hard part is going to be storing it away and not giving in sooner. so if you want to feel good about your x-mas and find things that are fun, imaginative and safe for your little ones this place is perfect and none of those characters that are constantly forced down our throats.

enjoy!

soapy snowman craft

2007-12-10T09:06:00.001-08:00

while definitley not food this little craft will have busy and dirty little fingers busy for some time. littlefoodie just started asking to do more crafts and i admit i am not the craftiest....making food yes but making things out of pipe cleaners, glue and glitter...not so much. this was adorable and fun. we used rosemary for the arms instead of twigs cause it was way too cold outside to grab some. we couldn't find the suggested laundry soap so we used a different kind that has baking soda in it. also, we ended up using way more water than the "recipe" calls for...it dries out quickly and with a 3 yr old it took about 10 hours to make one little snowman. as you can see one of ours resembles the elephant man a bit while the others look like they may be melting a bit early this year. all in all a fun craft.

enjoy!

homemade cranberry liqueur for the lush on your list

2007-12-08T08:11:00.000-08:00

when it comes to booze i am all over vodka. my number uno choice is grey goose straight up...no muss no fuss. occasionally i will switch to some ketel one which is pretty good itself. trying to come up with x-mas gifts for certain family members is a mind bending task but when the one thing i know they love to do is drink i am all ready to support their inner lush. according to cookinglight.com this little homemade cranberry liqueur treat is pretty sweel dressed up as a little cosmo...a little girly of a drink for me but after making this i think i can bend to my fruity drink side...if i have one. so here it is. you can use your fav vodka and i think even the absolut might transform itself into something palatable with some cranberries and sugar! my plan is to find some nice decanters to fill up with this nectar of the gods and what a beautiful present it will be!

(stay tuned for homemade limoncello and peppermint marshmallows!)

enjoy!

2 cups organic cane sugar
1 cup water
1 pkg fresh cranberries
3 cups vodka

combine sugar and water and cook over med heat until sugar dissolves. remove from heat and cool.

process cranberries in food processor until finely chopped and blended. combine cranberries with sugar in a large bowl and stir in vodka.

pour vodka mixture into clean jars and put on lids. let sit in a cool, dark place for 3 weeks. shake every other day.

when ready strain cranberry mixture thru a cheesecloth lined strainer into a bowl. toss out solids and fill that sweet juice into clean bottles or jars.

spianch, ham and butternut lasagna

2007-12-07T09:19:00.000-08:00

this was heavenly and a perfect comfort food. somehow we are always in abundance of goat cheese and i am always and forever adding to everything we eat these days. the ham was leftover from sunday...a great little quarter ham i picked up at trader joes before thanksgiving and froze. the ham really went well with the sweetness of the squash and the tang of the goat cheese. i also always use the no boil noodles...the last thing i have time for these days is pre boiling noodles and dirtying another pan...just another step to step!

(stay tuned for homemade cranberry vodka! best homemade x-mas present for the lush in your life!)

enjoy!

3 1/2 cups milk
1/4 cup unbleached ap flour
pinch of nutmeg
3 tbl unsalted butter
1 small yellow onion, minced
salt and pepper
6-8 cups peeled and small diced butternut squash
1 tbl balsamic vinegar
1 tbl chopped fresh rosemary
4 garlci cloves, minced
2 cups diced ham
pinch of red pepper
1 bag organic frozen chopped spinach
1 pkg organic whole wheat lasagna noodles
1 cup or 1 log of goat cheese
1 cup parm/regg cheese, grated

toss butternut squash with salt and pepper, balsamic vinegar and rosemary. roast at 425 for 30 min. remove and set aside. turn oven to 350F.

heat milk until almost boiling. remove and keep warm.

saute onion in butter until soft over med heat. whisk in flour and cook 5 min until a little cooked and lightly golden. add a few tbls of milk to flour mixture and whisk constantly. slowly add milk until gone and add in nutmeg, red pepper and salt and pepper. whisk until thickened and combined. set aside.

saute garlic and ham in olive oil. add spinach and salt and pepper. cook until spinach is warmed and soft.

ladle a little of milk mixture in bottom of baking dish. layer noodles, them butternut squash, spiinach/ham mixture. crumble some goat cheese and parm on top and finally ladle more milk mixture on top. repeat with noodles, squash, etc. when done sprinkle with a final layer of parm and bake 30-40 until done.

this is what it looks like when the cutest 3 yr old meets santa....

2007-12-04T16:16:00.000-08:00

shameless photo brag but ain't he cute...

carrot chocolate almond muffins

2007-12-01T10:12:00.000-08:00

1 lb organic carrots, shredded
1/2 cup organic cane sugar
1/2 cup organic brown sugar
6 tbl organic flaxseed oil or you can use veg oil
1/3 cup buttermilk
3 lg eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp organic almond extract
1 cup whole wheat
1/2 cup white whole wheat flour
1/2 cup almond meal
1/4 cup organic cocoa powder
2 tsp aluminum-free baking soda
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
sliced raw almonds

preheat oven to 350F.

combine carrots thru eggs in a large bowl.

combine flour thru salt in small bowl.

stir flour into carrot mixture. fold in chocolate chips. pour into muffins tins, sprinkles with almonds and bake 22 min.

here comes the gnome cake...

2007-11-28T17:15:00.001-08:00

littlefoodie and i made this little gnome cake for his little buddies first birthday. like us she and her mama share a little lovin' for those sneaky garden gnomes.

the cooking has been few and far between these days since thanksgiving but things should start picking up come dec.

enjoy!

honey nut flax muffins

2007-11-26T09:20:00.000-08:00

its been a while again. some family things have popped up affecting my kitchen time as well as thanksgiving and traveling...blah, blah, blah. we also lost our cable to load pics onto the computer....a food blog without pictures is a little boring if you ask me. but i'm back and armed with a fistful of holiday recipes just in time for the impending doom of christmas.

these little muffins really pack a fiber filled punch...probably a good snack after that carb filled thanksgiving meal. flax seed oil adds extra umph and the mixture of raw green pumpkin seeds, walnuts and cranberries make it all the better. the original recipe comes from cookinglight but it wouldn't be right if i didn't mess with it!

enjoy!

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup unbleached white whole wheat flour (kings arthur is the best!)
1/4 cup organic flaxseed meal
1/3 cup organic natural brown sugar
1 1/4 tsp aluminum-free baking soda
1/8 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 nutmeg
1/8 tsp mace
pinch of nutmeg
1 cup organic buttermilk
2 tbl organic flaxseed oil
2 lg organic eggs
1/2 cup trail mix (i used raw green pumpkin seeds, cranberries, pecan pieces, pistachio pieces, walnut pieces)
honey

preheat oven to 350F.

combine flour thru nutmeg and whisk together. make well in center.

combine buttermilk thru eggs and add to well in flour. stir until just mixed. fold in trail mix. pour into muffin tins and bake for 15 min.

remove and drizzle muffins with honey.

morrocan style roast chicken

2007-11-13T16:12:00.000-08:00

the october issue of Bon Appetit has a wonderful recipe for morrocan style roast chicken. talk about simple. there are 4 ingredients plus i add a few chopped garlic cloves. i've also made this with chicken breasts and used it as a glaze. it goes great with couscous tossed with raisins and almonds or roast veggies and potatoes.

enjoy!

1/4 cup ( 1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup honey
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1 4 3/4- to 5-pound whole chicken, rinsed, patted dry
Preparation

Position rack in bottom third of oven; preheat to 400°F. Whisk butter, honey, cinnamon, and turmeric in small bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer 1/4 cup honey butter to small bowl; reserve.

Place chicken on rack in roasting pan. Brush with some of remaining honey butter; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast chicken until thermometer inserted into thickest part of thigh registers 165°F to 170°F, brushing occasionally with honey butter and covering loosely with foil if browning too quickly, about 1 hour 10 minutes. Transfer to platter. Serve with reserved honey butter.

baked acorn squash and parsnip pasta

2007-11-09T07:57:00.000-08:00

this is a great fall comfort dish and also a great way to get your little one to try some new squashes and root veggies. littlefoodie will eat most anything if it is served with pasta and coated with fresh parm! the recipe itself came from cookinglight however a little tweaking and it was perfect. i served it with Trader Joe's apple and maple chicken sausages that i grilled. the sweetness of the maple syrup and apple really complimented the earthy parsnip.

enjoy!

1 small yellow onion, small diced
3 garlic clvs, minced
1 green acorn squash, peeled and diced into bite size pieces
4 parsnips, peeled and diced
1 tsp sage
few sprigs of fresh parsely, chopped
pinch of red pepper
1/4 tsp nutmeg, fresh grated is best!
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
half a bag of penne pasta, cooked al dente
3/4 cup parm cheese
2 tbl unsalted butter
2 1/2 unbleached flour
1 1/4 cup milk, room temp

preheat oven to 37F.

saute onion and garlic in olive oil. add squash, sage, parsley, nutmeg, red pepper and salt and pepper. cook on med heat about 10 min or until almost soft. add balsamic vinegar and cook a couple minutes. turn heat on low and continue to cook another 10 min. add 1/2 cup of parm and stir together.

heat butter in a small saucepan. whisk in flour and cook fo about 3 min on med heat. add milk slowly, whisking while pouring in. heat until couple minutes until thickened.

add penne to baking dish and pur over squash mixture. pour milk over and mix all together. sprinkle remaining 1/4 cup of cheese. bake about 30 min.

stuffed pork tenderloin with spinach, mushrooms and feta

2007-11-06T08:54:00.000-08:00

this was easy, full of flavor, healthy and did i mention quick and easy? littlefoodie gave t two chubby thumbs up.

i served it up with a brown rice medley from trader joes...brown rice and daikon radish seeds and black barley. a simple serving of roasted carrots, cauliflower and zucchini paired well along side. since pork loins are lean and small you don't need a whole lot of filling. i ended up with a ton and stuffed it anyway without using twine. i just butterflied it stuffed it then tucked the stragly ends under it and placed it in the glass baking dish cut side down. the filling stayed inside and was moist and perfect.

enjoy!

1 pork tenderloin
1 yellow onion, minced
3 garlic clvs, minced
couple handfuls cleaned organic spinach
1 cup chopped mushrooms
few sprigs of orgeano, chopped
salt and pepper
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

preheat oven to 425F.

butterfly pork loin. if you want to, pound it out until it is thin and flat...cooking time will be shorter though so watch it carefully so that you don't turn it into pork jerky.

saute onion and garlic until soft in olive oil. add mushrooms and more oil if needed. throw in spinach and cook until wilted. let cool a bit. drain the excess liquid in a fine mesh colander. in a bowl mix feta with spinach mixture. stuff pork loin. wrap up and tie with butchers twine or do what i did and make way too much filling, tuck the small ends under and tuck as much of the sides under as possible. place sutffing side down in lightly oiled baking dish. season with salt and pepper and drizzle a little olive oil over the top.

bake for 25-30 minutes.

triple chocolate cheesecake ala martha stewart and spicy chocolate cutout cookies

2007-11-02T10:29:00.000-07:00

the cheesecake was awesome. check out the link above that will take you directly to martha stewart's website for the recipe. we decorated with little ghost and pumpkin marshmallows...didn't eat those though!

the next halloween recipe we made were spicy chocolate cut out cookies. these were puffy, soft and full of flavor. they held together well when littlefoodie rolled them out and used the cookie cutters. i really had nothing to do with the dough after i mixed it up cause littlefoodie was all over that mess...and believe me, i was instructed on how to sprinkle flour, roll out dough and gently press the cutters into the dough. i guess he is listening after all.

enjoy!

3 cups unbleached ap flour
1/2 cup organic unsweetened cocoa flour (green&blacks!!!!)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground ginger
pinch of salt
1 cup unsalted butter, room temp
3/4 cup organic natural dark brown sugar
1 lg organic egg
1/2 cup unsulphured organic molasses
1/2 tsp pure almond extract
1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract

sift together flour, cocoa, ginger, baking soda and salt in a bowl.

in a mixer beat butter until creamed and fluffy. add brown sugar and beat until combined. add egg, molasses and extracts. add in flour until dough forms. stir in remaining if too tough in mixer.

divide dough in half and wrap in wax paper and refridge overnight.

remove dough. let warm up a bt so you can roll it out.

preheat oven to 375F.

flour table or board and roll out until thin enough to cut out cookies. cut out and place on cookie sheet. bake 6-7 minutes.

cool for a minute then remove from sheet and let cool on rack.

powdered sugar icing:
4-6 cups organic powdered sugar
milk
pure almond extract

sift powdered sugar into mixer. add enough milk, starting with very little and about 1/2 tsp almond ex and beat until no lumps in the sugar and combined. continue add more milk until you get a slightly thick but still runny and glossy icing. tint with natural food coloring if desired!

happy halloween from hansel and gretel (and yoda too!)

2007-10-31T09:11:00.001-07:00

littlefoodie and i were embracing our heritage and became german duo this year for halloween...hansel and gretel. he is his sweet little lederhosen and me in a pink and green dirndl. littlefoodie made the cutest and chunkiest hansel ever. i had to do some quick thinking about the costume cause littlepoopie was refusing to be hansel and wanted to be hendrika the poor dutch cow who fell into a canal...i told him when a spacehero is little he wears lederhosen to gather his powers and voila it worked.

we'll be trick or treating tonight and eating lots of things i don't even want to consider. one day right, one day and its halloween...i can be cool sometimes. stay tuned for yummy chocolate halloween cutout cookies and a spooky, scary triple chocolate cheesecake topped with ganache.

maple orange pork with acorn squash and wild rice with cranberries

2007-10-29T19:39:00.000-07:00

this is a staple here. littlefoodie will ask for seconds and then thirds so i make it often for the little man. its also very quick which is helpful on a busy day. i've made it with a few different squash's but i think spaghetti squash is our favorite. the juice complements the steamed broccoli so well. i serve it with wild rice cooked in veggie broth, dried cranberries and salt and pepper.

enjoy!

1 pork tenderloin, cut into 1 in chunks
unbleached flour to coat pork
1 onion, hlaved and thinly sliced
2 garlic clvs, minced
1 acorn squash (or other wintery squash) cut into 1 in chunks
1 tsp dried rubbed sage
1/4 tsp cayenne
1 cup organic veggie broth
1/4 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
1/4 cup organic pure maple syrup
salt and pepper.

toss pork with enough flour to lightly coat and season with salt and pepper and sage.

saute onion and garlic in olive oil until soft and cooked. add pork and brown. throw in squash, cayenne, broth, orange juice, maple syrup and salt and pepper to taste. bring to a boil. reduce heat to low simmer and cook until squash is done and liquid is lightly thickened. about 25 min. serve.

wild rice with cranberries
1 cup wild rice, rinsed and drained
3 cups organic veggie broth
1 cup organic dried perservative free cranberries
salt and pepper to taste

bring broth to boil. add in rice and cranberries. bring to boil and then cover, reduce heat and cook 45 min on low or until tender.

vegetarian lasagna with butternut squash marinara

2007-10-27T08:28:00.000-07:00

i don't have a photo of this one. we had friends over and it was devoured! thats the rewarding part of having people outside the fam eating over...watching them have seconds and loving it!
i had a couple cups of leftover butternut squash puree. i usually add pumpkin to my tomato sauce but needed to use this up. it was a really sweet and hearty addition to the marinara sauce. i also made a bechamel to thicken things up a bit. it was tasty and full of veggies and cheese! hopefully i can salvage a slice today to post a pic of it.

enjoy!

3 cup butternut squash puree
3 cup marinara sauce (i had homemade frozen in the freezer)
3 tbl unsalted butter
3 tbl unbleached ap flour
1 1/2 cups milk
pinch of nutmeg
1 yellow onion, minced
3 glc clvs, minced
2 bunches organic spinach, cleaned well and torn
4 lg zucchinis, cleaned and sliced
1 container fresh ricotta
1 cup fresh grated parmesan cheese
1 egg
salt and pepper
pinch of nutmeg
3 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 pkg, whole wheat flat lasagna noodles, (i use the no boil kind)

combine butternut puree and marinara in a bowl. season if needed and set aside for a bit.

saute onion and garlic and add spinach and zucchini. saute until cooked and spinach is wilted. season. set aside.

melt butter over med low heat. add in flour and cook a minute. heat up milk and then slowly whisk in to flour mixture. heat a bit until thick. add in nutmeg and salt and pepper. turn off heat and set aside.

combine riccota, egg, parmesan, nutmeg and salt and pepper in a bowl.

spread a cup or so of butternut tomato sauce over bottom of casserole dish. add layer of noodles. spread veggies over noodles. drop riccota on top and ladle some more butternut marinara sauce over. layer more noodles. then veggies, then riccota, then bechamel/cream sauce, then mozzarella. repeat the layering with noodles, veggies, ricotta, sauce and mozzarella until done. sprinkle with remaining cheese and cook at 400F for 40 min.

cinnamon apple pie with raisins and crumb topping

2007-10-24T08:49:00.000-07:00

this recipe is another from the newest issue of Bon Appétit. a good, straight forward apple pie. it was rich and dense from the raisins but the crust, if handle correctly was flaky and buttery and perfect. i don't think i'll make it again since it doesn't compare with the caramel apple pie i make each holiday but its definitley yummy! below is the exact recipe published in the magainze and if you click on the title it will take you directly to the recipe on-line.

enjoy!

Crust:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/4 cup (or more) ice water
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

Filling:
1 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
3 tablespoons all purpose flour
2 teaspoons finely grated lemon peel
1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 3/4 pounds G ranny Smith apples (about 6 medium), peeled, halved, cored, cut into 1/8-inch-thick slices (about 8 cups)
1 cup raisins
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Crumb Topping:
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

Lightly sweetened whipped cream or vanilla ice cream
Preparation

For crust:
Blend flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder in processor. Add butter; pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal. Mix 1/4 cup ice water and vinegar in small bowl; add to processor and pulse until moist clumps form, adding more ice water by teaspoonfuls if mixture is dry. Gather dough into ball; flatten into disk. Wrap in plastic and chill at least 1 hour. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Keep chilled. Soften slightly at room temperature before rolling out.

Roll out dough on floured work surface to 13-inch round. Transfer to 9-inch-diameter deep-dish glass pie dish. Fold edges under and crimp, forming crust sides 1/4 inch above rim of pie dish. Freeze crust 20 minutes.

For filling:
Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 375°F. Mix brown sugar, flour, lemon peel, and cinnamon in large bowl. Add apple slices, raisins, and vanilla; toss until well coated. Transfer filling to unbaked crust, mounding filling slightly in center. Bake pie until apples begin to soften, about 40 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare crumb topping:
Whisk flour, sugar, cinnamon, and salt in small bowl. Add butter and rub in with fingertips until mixture begins to clump together.

Sprinkle topping evenly over hot pie. Continue to bake pie until apples are tender and topping is browned and crisp, tenting pie with sheet of foil if browning too quickly, about 50 minutes. Cool pie on rack at least 2 hours. DO AHEAD: Can be made 8 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature.

Cut pie into wedges and serve warm or at room temperature with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

GOOD TO KNOW:
Don't skip that teaspoon of vinegar in the pie dough—it helps make the finished crust tender.

butternut squash soup with ham and dumplings

2007-10-23T09:10:00.000-07:00

despite the raging fires surrounding us along with the ash and eery yellow/orange sky i attempted to make a cozy fall dish for a not so cozy day. the soup was tasty, the ham was hearty and the dumplings were cute and tasty. this recipe is a twist on a butternut squash and dumpling soup from epicurious.com. i think the original would have produced a watery bland soup so i had to fix it up a bit and it came out beautiful. i served it with steamed green beans tossed with honey, balsamic vinegar and the last of the heairloom tomatoes and cold yummy Fat Tire beer.

enjoy!

1 lg organic butternut squash, peeled and cut into cubes
3 garlic clvs, minced
1 small yellow onion, chopped
2 tsp ground ginger
generous pinch of nutmeg
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
6 1/2 cups organic veggie or chicken broth
1 lg can organic diced tomatoes, drained
1 perservative and nitrate free ham steak, cut into small cubes
1/4 cup organic half and half
1/2 cup fresh grated parmesan cheese
1/3 cup yellow cornmeal
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp aluminum-free baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
3 tbl half and half
half a beaten egg
2 tbl finely chopped green onions

saute cubed squash with onion and garlic about 10 min. on med heat. add spices along with salt and pepper. pour in chicken or veggie broth. bring to boil and simmer until tender about 20-25 min.
puree squash mixture in batches in blender.

return squash puree back to sauce pan and add ham and tomatoes. bring to low boil then reduce heat. add in cheese and half and half and more salt or pepper if needed.

while soup in on low heat or bare simmer sift flour, cornmeal and salt together. cut in butter until looks like coarse meal. combine milk, egg and green onion...add to flour mixture.

drop dumplings by tblsp full into soup. keep soup at a low simmer. cook until dumplings are firm about 15 min or so.

pumpkin muffins

2007-10-20T09:19:00.000-07:00

bigfoodie daddy was awesome enough to bring me home a copy of the october issue of Bon Appetit. there are a ton of wonderful recipes and i've already made a few, however the spiced pumpkin layer cake turned out to be the best. i really deconstructed this cake though and made it into muffins as opposed to cake and greatly reduced the sugar. i also didn't top with frosting since muffins in the morning with frosting is not our thang.

these muffins will be stockpiled as one of those fall back muffins since they were so moist and pumpkiny. littlefoodie had a lot to say about them but his little mug was packed full of pumpkin goodness. i am sure the original is just as amazing and maybe for a get together i'd be willing but this version is pretty darn untouchable.

enjoy!

2 1/2 cups organic whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup organic oats
2 tsp aluminum-free baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tbl cinnamon
2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup organic natural cane sugar
1/2 cup packed organic natural brown sugar
1 cup unsweetened organic applesauce
4 lg organic eggs (subsitute with egg replacer for a vegan muffin)
2 cup organic pumpkin puree (i used fresh but the tj's organic canned is pretty good)
1 tbl pure natural vanilla extract
2 tsp mincd orange zest
3/4 cup organic unsweetened coconut

preheat oven to 350F. line muffin tins with unbleached liners (avoid those white bleached out ones!) or grease the tins.

sift flour thru salt in med bowl.

beat sugar and brown sugar with applesauce to combine in mixer. add in eggs one at a time. pour in pumpkin, vanilla and orange peel. combine well. add flour and beat JUST until combined. fold in coconut. pour into muffin pan.

bake 25 min or until done. remove and cool. eat. (we topped with little candy pumpkins for cuteness.

beerwurst and sauerkraut with beer scalloped potatoes

2007-10-19T09:35:00.000-07:00

we were doing a little late oktoberfest here at littlefoodies. steamy bowls of fresh sauerkraut and beerwurst cooked with apples and beer. caramelized beer soaked onions layered with cheesy red potatoes and garlic. crispy oven baked kale... sound good? it was.
littlefoodie is going to be a traditional little german boy all decked out in his fancy new lederhosen and me in a dirndl...i'm calling us hansel and gretel..he opposes as usual but when the day comes and he finds out the candy frenzy that is halloween and how sometimes i can be pretty cool then i am sure his stance on hansel will change. the power of over-processed sugar is strong when you are denied 99% of the time.

enjoy!

2 pkgs cantella's oktoberfest beerwurst (or you fav german sausage)
1 large jar sauerkraut (i use fresh sauerkraut!), drained and reserve liquid in case it gets dry
2 granny smith apples, peeled and sliced thin
2 tbl brown sugar
fresh pepper and salt to taste
1 cup beer

toss all together in the crockpot. turn on low and cook for 5 or so hours.

beer scalloped poatoes a la cookinglight.com

2 yellow onions, thinly sliced
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 cup beer
2 lbs organic red potatoes, sliced thin, 1/4-1/8 in thin (peel kept on)
2 tbl unbleached ap flour
1/2 cup organic half and half
1 cup cheese (i used a mixture of fontina, cheddar and english coastal cheddar from trader joes)
salt and fresh pepper to taste

preheat oven to 350F.
saute onions and garlic in olive oil on med low until soft. add beer and cook until almost evaporated.
boil potatoes until just about tender.
combine flour, half and half and salt and pepper.
layer potatoes, onions, cheese, potatoes, onions, cheese, etc. until done. pour milk/flour mixture over top. sprinkle with cheese.
bake 45 min.

french apple cake

2007-10-17T19:31:00.000-07:00

i made this recipe pretty much how it states on the recipe. i used brandy instead of calvados cause its what we have on hand (love me some manhattans).
the brandy flavor really stood out which was wonderful. the tart apples were nice and caramelized on the bottom. a rich and lovely cake for company which was what i made it for. also, a stellar recipe to show off all my fresh apples!
i provided the link on the title...this recipe is directly from epicurious.com. one of the only recipes i have not changed up.
enjoy!

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
1 3/4 cups sugar
1/3 cup water
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 large Granny Smith apples (about 1 1/4 pounds), peeled, cored, thinly
sliced
1 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 large egg yolks
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons Calvados, applejack or other brandy
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 9-inch-diameter cake pan with 2-inch-high sides. Coat pan with sugar; tap out excess. Melt 1/4 cup butter in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Stir in 3/4 cup sugar, water and cinnamon and bring to boil. Add apples and cook until apples are just tender, turning frequently, about 15 minutes. Remove apples, using slotted spoon, and arrange decoratively in bottom of pan. Continue boiling liquid in skillet until thick and syrupy, about 4 minutes. Pour over apples.
Sift flour, baking powder and salt into small bowl. Whisk remaining 1 cup sugar, egg yolks, eggs, Calvados and vanilla in large bowl to blend. Gently stir in dry ingredients. Fold in 1/2 cup melted butter. Pour batter over apples in pan. Bake until toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Cool cake in pan 5 minutes. Run small sharp knife around side of pan to loosen cake. Turn cake out onto platter. Serve warm or at room temperature.

apple picking at Riley's Farm....

2007-10-15T08:27:00.001-07:00

(littlefoodie getting ready to go!)

(granny smith tree)

(apple pickin')

(granny smiths)

(misty orchard)

living in southern california, especially across the street from the beach and miles down the street from a concentrated crime laden ghetto we don't get too many chances for rural, green and country living without driving a few hours. despite living here my whole life i have somehow never made it up to the beautiful and peaceful apple orchards just a mere hour away. it was heaven. green and misty, black bears and pumpkins, log cabins and poop matted sheep dogs, goats and fresh raspberries. bouncy hay rides and mud...lots and lots of mud which meant littlefoodie was in his pigpen paradise. letting him loose on this place was like letting a caged animal out after years. he had fistfuls and mouthfuls of sweet sweet raspberries. bites of juicy and crisp fresh picked green granny smiths were taken out all over my apple bucket. double fisting fresh baked wheat bread all hearty and warm. it was really one of those amazing and perfect days that made me realize how easy i could give up my beachy life for a farm and garden...too bad bigfoodie daddy has no plans for that...maybe in retirement (here that littlefoodie!)

we got there late in the season so at the moment due to the farms elevation granny smiths were the last tree to produce for the season and it was technically the last day for apple picking. we got our share and moved on to the pumpkin patch. littlefoodie had a blast helping me twist off the thick and viney stem to pull out the perfect pumpkin. not a pumpkin for carving though, this is our baking pumpkin. after all that and a whole lot of exploring littlefoodie was determined to pick the most of those last few straggly raspberries. after a little talk about exactly which ones to pick (the darker the berry the sweeter the juice!) he was off and shoving that cute mouth full.

when the grammy and the mommy were too tired out we hiked down to the log cabin for lunch and listened to the blue grass band. warm pot pies, caramel apples and apple dumplings with hot coffee. sooooo good! after letting the little ones run around and blow off some excess steam we reluctantly piled in the car. i was probably more disappointed to leave than anyone...something about the clean green air and open fresh surroundings kind of put clutter out of your mind for a bit..coming down the mountain the mist and fog faded away and the green faded into sparse trees and back home to enjoy the bounty that we naturally picked.

stay tuned for some apple and pumpkin maddess here at littlefoodie!

roasted kale

2007-10-11T08:25:00.001-07:00

kale...kale is one of those superfoods that we all could stand to add a lot of to our diets. packed with vitamins A, C, calcium and folate (folic acid is essential to growing a healthy baby in a mama's tummy). its especially wonderful for vegans since it is loaded with calcium.
there are a ton of things you can do with this tough green. soups, sautes, fillings, juicing with fruit so your peewee has no clue but above all is roasting. it has a very similar flavor to roasted brussel sprouts which are equally as delicious roasted. a little good olive oil, slivers of fresh garlic, cracked pepper and sea salt...crunchu and salty heaven.

enjoy!

1 bunch of kale, outer leaves removed, don't eat that tough stem
olive oil
1 or 2 or 3 garlic cloves, slivered
sea salt
cracked black pepper

preheat oven to 350F. tear of kale and toss with oil, salt, pepper and garlic. roast for 10 min or until crispy and dry.

apple and blueberry tart

2007-10-10T09:26:00.001-07:00

this came from cookinglight as well and i adapated it quite a bit. added dried berries cause we had plenty on hand. its a great and yummy way to use up those juicy and crunchy fall apples. you can use all different kinds..i had a ton of gala apples so thats what i used and i did not peel them since we love apple skin! this tart is totally vegan too!

enjoy!

1 tsp organic dry yeast
1 tbl organic grade b maple syrup
1/2 cup warm water
1 1/2 cups organic unbleached bread flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tbl walnut oil divided
4 apples, your choice, sliced thin
1/2 cup dried blueberries
1/2 cup maple syrup

in a small bowl sprinkle yeast and 1 tbl maple syrup in warm water and let stand 10 min.

combine flour, salt and cinnamon in food processor. slowly add yeast mixture to flour while on. add 2 1/2 tsp oil while processor is on; process until dough leaves sides of bowl and forms a ball.

turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead lightly 4 times. oil large bowl and toss in dough. cover to coat with oil. cover and let rise 45 min. punch down and turn out. roll into 12 in circle and place on oiled baking sheet. brush with some oil and cover and let rise 30 min.

lay apple slices over dough and sprinkle with dried blueberries or dried berries of choice; sprinkle with cinnamon. bake at 400F for 20 min or until golden.

heat 1/2 cup of syrup in a small, heavy saucepan, and cook over medium-high heat for about 5-8 min. remove from heat and let cool for a minute. pour over apples. Serve warm.

italian style eggplant and veggie stew with couscous

2007-10-09T17:35:00.001-07:00

this is a quick and easy meal. i used some marinara i had made ages ago and froze but you could easily use your favorite jarred marinara sauce or tomato sauce and add extra herbs to it. the veggies combos are endless as well. i served this with whole wheat couscous and it was perfect with it but littlefoodie ate it was farfalle and loads of parm...his choice and at least he ate it!

enjoy!

2 small eggplants, peeled and diced small
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 orange bell pepper, diced
2 yellow onions, diced
1 yellow squash, diced
ginormous handfuls of cleaned organic spinach
torn basil
fresh oregano, chopped
2-3 cups marinara sauce (i use homemade i had frozen) or tomato sauce
1 cup kalamata olives
red pepper flakes
saute onions and garlic until soft. add eggplants, bell pepper and squash and add some more glugs of olive oil if dry.
throw in spinach and herbs and tomato sauce...let simmer on low heat for 30 min up to an hour. season with salt and fresh cracked pepper and red pepper flakes.

serve over fluffy whole wheat couscous and sprinkle with freshly grated parmesan cheese.

roasted kale

2007-10-09T09:35:00.001-07:00

oatmeal chocolate chip muffins

2007-10-09T08:32:00.001-07:00

1 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup oatmeal
1/3 cup organic borwn sugar
1/4 cup organic flaxseed meal
3/4 tbl aluminum-free baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup organic coconut oil, melted
1 cup almond or coconut or cows milk
1 lg egg
1/2 cup organic unsweetened coconut
1 cup chocolate chips

425F. sift flour into large bowl. add oatmeal, brown sugar, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.

in small bowl combine oil with egg and milk. stir into dry ingredients. add coconut and chocolate chips.

pour into greased/lined muffins tins. bake 12 minutes. remove and cool. then eat!

coconut cake for the birthday maam

2007-10-05T11:24:00.001-07:00

today i have moved on from the 20 somethings in life and into the 30 something realm. how am i coping? well, if panic attacks and horrid thoughts of mid life crisis and death are well, then color me fabulous.

today is the day all things scary have been building up to but i am calm, cool and collected. i have my 2 favorite boys by my side, i plan on eating my weight in italian food tonight and afterwards i get to come home to this yummy cake.

yesterday at the store, while buying the ingredients to make this cake the unknowing college thing said to me, "you forgot your reciept, maam." ahhh holy hell, when did i become maam?

i made my own cake this year cause its theraputic and i needed that. the recipe comes from cookinglight..nothing fancy but it came out moist and slighlty coconutty. the frosting was light and airy. i made the recipe just how it goes on the site except i did add a pinch of cardamom, some mandarin oranges in the middle layer and toasted coconut all around the cake. the picture was taken at a terrible angle and i promise it looked way more appealing and purty to the naked eye. so happy birthday to me...i can eat all the cake if i want to!

enjoy!

caramelized onion and olive pizza

2007-10-04T08:37:00.000-07:00

this was, as littlefoodie put it "big people" pizza. normally he eats whatever we put in front of his chubby little mug but he snubbed us this time...however, that just meant more for daddy and myself.

i lifted the recipe from cookinglight.com but switched it up as always to make it even better! the dough was painfully easy to make and just too minutes. while it was rising i prepared the veggies and cooked them up. as soon as the bread was done rising the toppings were all done. easy as pizza pie. actually, the dough was very similar to the herb pizza crust from trader joes but its homemade which always makes it tastier but in a pinch the tj's will work. i plan on making a couple batches to freeze and whip out quickly.

there is pretty much an infinite amount of toppings for this but squash, herbs, kalamata olives, onions and goat cheese were what i had on hand. next week i want to throw some eggplant and make a spicier pizza.

enjoy!

the pizza dough:

1 pkg organic yeast
3/4 warm water, divided
2 1/4 cups organic white whole wheat flour, divided
2 tbl milk
2 tbl olive oil
1/2 tsp sea salt
generous cracklings of black pepper!
1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried oregano
cornmeal

sprinkle yeast over 1/4 cup of warm water in a large bowl and let stand for 5 min to bloom. add 1/2 cup of warm water and stir. stir in 2 cups flour, milk, olive oil, salt, cracked pepper, and herbs. stir until combined.

flour board and turn out dough. knead until smooth about 8-10 min and dough is elastic. add enough dough, 1 tbl at a time to prevent sticking.

grease a large, clean glass bowl with olive oil and turn to coat the dough all over in it. cover with wax paper and let rise in a warm place with no drafts for 40 minutes. after that punch down and let sit 5 minutes.

sprinkle cornmeal to covera greased cookie sheet. shape dough out into a large rectangle and crimp edges

preheat oven to 400F.

toppings:
4 slices nitrate free bacon (neiman ranch), diced
4 yellow onions, thinly sliced
1 tsp chopped rosemary
4 garlic clvs, sliced
1 cup halved heirloom or small tomatoes
2 yellow squash, halved and sliced
3/4 cup chopped, pitted kalamata olives
1 pkg goat cheese
cracked pepper

heat pan and saute bacon until crisp. remove. add onion to pan along with rosemary and garlic and squash. cook on med high heat stirring occasionally until onion is golden and caramelized. add in tomatoes and olives. season with salt and pepper.

top the pizza crust with onion mixture. sprinkle with bacon and then goat cheese. sprinkle with fresh cracked pepper.

bake 35 min until crust is crispy and toppings are brown and gooey!

hey little baby kiwi...littlefoodie pick of the week

2007-10-03T07:53:00.000-07:00

on our bi-monthly ginormous trader joes/wild oats shopping trip we picked up, at trader joes, these tiny little baby kiwis. oh my love, were they good. tiny like a big fat grape and sweet like honey. i snipped off the tiny little ends cause they were a bit tough and then ate them whole...sweet green skin and all. littlefoodie ended up eating the whole package so were heading back

this afternoon to by about 4 more so we have some to last for the week.
(and on another trader joes note...they have their pumpkin butter back and in full swing!) it may be the last time we buy it although we love it casue i think its time to start making our own!)

enjoy!

reusablebags.com is great!!!!

2007-09-29T08:34:00.000-07:00

i've been ordering things off of this website quite a bit lately. (click on title to be directed) they have tons of products that are plastic free, enviornmentally safe and all around better for you. i recently ordered the kleen kanteen sippy cup and i think this will be my gift of choice to new parents. we also adore our sigg bottles but then who doesn't these days.
there is also a wealth of info on why/what kinds/and how to avoid leaching plastics and help t ofind cleaner products. not too long ago we disposed of all plastics in our home and replaced them all with either glass (corningware) or safe plastics when neccessary meaning products containing polypropylene #5 which is a non-chemical leaching plastic.

here is a bit of info on checking out what types of plastic your little one may be drinking out of. at the bottom of plastic plates, cups, etc. are numbers on them which contain there recycling code..apparently 1, 2, 4, 5 and fine but 3.6.7 are not..those are the types if scratched, worn, heated, cleaned in dish washers and covered in plastic will certainly cause leaching of chemicals known to cause cancers and release toxins. please be aware! this little tidbt of info came from a great website called z reccomends. if interesed here is the link to some great reviews of safe toddler sippy and drinking cups:
http://zrecs.blogspot.com/2007/05/sippy-cup-showdown-safer-bpa-free-sippy.html

sweet potato hash with italian sausage

2007-09-26T13:46:00.000-07:00

5 sweet potatoes, diced small
2 perservative free italian sausages (i like to use pre-cooked neiman ranch), casings removed and diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 lg yellow onion, chopped
2 tbl pure organic maple syrup
salt and pepper

cook sweet potatoes in boiling water until tender. remove and drain.

heat olive oil in saute pan and add onion and garlic. cook on med low heat until caramelized. add sausage and cook. throw in sweet potatoes and add maple syrup. season with salt and pepper to taste.

cocoa-nut cinnamon rolls

2007-09-22T09:59:00.000-07:00

these were superb. coconut, green&blacks cocoa, walnuts in an ooey gooey cinnamon roll. these would be so easy to make them vegan...just replace the egg with your fav egg replacer...easy as pie. i mostly use coconut oil to replace my butter and it provides magnificent results as well as a ton of healthy benefits that butter does not even begin to supply. plus, i knock out cows milk for coconut or almond to amazing results. please...vegan readers try it veganized and let me know what you think!
the best thing was that i froze them after the last rise then let them thaw for 30 min the next morning and they were perfect!

littlefoodie was all up in these rolls and it made a mama happy even though they were sweet and sugar laden...you only live once!

enjoy!

for the dough:
1 pkg organic yeast
1/4 cup warm water
1/2 cup coconut milk
1/3 cup organic pure cane sugar
1/4 cup organic unrefined coconut oil, melted
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp natural coconut extract
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 lg egg, lightly beaten (can totally be replaced with egg sub!!! to make it vegan..yay!)
2 cups King Arthur brand white whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cup organic whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 cup flour as needed

cocoa-nut filling:
2/3 cup organic pure dark brown sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened organic coconut
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup green and blacks cocoa
1 tbl cinnamon
1 1/2 tbl organic unrefined coconut oil, melted

pour warm water into a bowl and sprinkle yeast over. let stabd five minutes to bloom.
add to yeast mixutre coconut milk, sugar, coconut oil, extracts, salt and egg or egg substitute.

stir in 3 1/2 cups of flour to mixture. turn dough out on a floured board and knead until smooth and elastic...about 8-10 min....push your finger in and if indentation bounces back it should be good to let rise.
add the remaining flour if dough is too soft and sticky.

place dough in a large greased glass bowl coated. cover with a damp and clean towel and let rise in a warm place, free of drafts for about 1 hour or until doubled in size.
after 1 hr. punch down and let rise 5 more mins.

combine filling mixture into a bowl.

roll dough into an 18 x 10-inch rectangle on a floured board and brush with 1 1/2 tbl melted coconut oil. sprinkle with filling leaving, leaving a 12 in border around dough and then leave just enough filling to sprinkle onto the bottom of baking pan.
roll up on the long side like a jelly-roll and pinch seam to seal.

using dental floss (cause its way easier than anything else) slice off the size rolls you want..about and inch or so.
sprinkle remaining filling into the bottom of 9 in pan and add slices, cut sie up to pan.
cover and let rise 1 1/2 hrs.
(after this last rise you can go ahead and freeze them...make sure they are tightly wrapped though. i use wax paper for the top so nothing sticks and i don't lose any sugary filling.

preheat oven to 350°. and bake uncovered for 25 minutes. when done drizzle with icing or eat plain.

icing:
1 cup organic powdered sugar
coconut milk as needed
1 tsp pure vanilla or coconut extract

coombine together. add coconut milk as needed for right consistency.

italian beans baked in tomato sauce

2007-09-20T10:19:00.000-07:00

so these were supposed to be baked gigantes from the cookinglight website only i could'nt find gigantes and didn't have time to run to another store to grab some. large limas would have worked too which is what i thought i had grabbed but in reality i just had plain ol lima beans and cannelini beans...i had to make do. this dish was delicous and despite the change in beans it was really great although i intend on making it again with gigantes. the bacon really did it justice! make sure to buy good quality bacon with no nitrates...nitrates are bad just remember that. neiman ranch makes great, natural bacon and sausage products that are free of hormones and preservatives. a little side salad to this and perfect meal!

enjoy!

3 cans white beans or gigantes or large limas or like me plain limas
4 strips bacon, diced (i use neiman ranch no nitrate or perservative bacon)
1 large yellow onion, diced
3 carrots, diced
3 stalks celery, diced
3 garlic cloves
1 tsp basil
1 tbl balsamic vinegar
1 28 oz can organic diced tomatoes
1 tsp pure cane sugar
generous helping of grated parm
salt and pepper
pinch of red pepper

prehear oven to 325F.

drain and rinse beans in colander. set aside.

saute bacon, onion, carrot, celery and garlic until soft and cooked. add basil, vinegar, tomatoes, honey and pepper and s&p.

add beans and add to baking dish. sprinkle with cheese.

bake 45 min.

korean beef stew ala city mama

2007-09-19T18:22:00.001-07:00

click on the title to be taken to the original recipe over at family food!

this dish was definitley a keeper although way too hot for littlefoodie and myself. next time the jalapenos will be massively scaled down to 2 or 3. this mama formerly suffers from huge ulcers so hothot food does not sit so well. my jalapenos were like small bananas so i am thinking that could've been the issue here.

i've adapted the recipe to my liking a bit. i added a few carrots chopped in big hunks and some garlic and ginger for a fresh taste. i paired it with brown basamati rice and sesame stir fry spinach to cut the heat. i also cooked it in the crock pot which was so easy since we don't stay home long enough to cook it on the stove...it was flaky and tender. i couldn't come up with korean soy sauce so i used a super rich double brewed soy sauce instead...delicious!

enjoy!

2 lbs fresh cut stew meat
8 jalapenos (mine were HUGE)
5 whole garlic cloves
1 small piece fresh ginger, peeled and left whole
4 large organic carrots, cut into big chunks
1 cup of soy sauce
1 cup organic natural brown sugar

put it all into a crock pot and let is sit for 8-9 hours. serve with brown rice to soak up juices.

SESAME GARLIC STIR FRY SPINACH

a big ol bunch of cleaned organic spinach leaves
2 garlic cloves, minced
salt and pepper to taste
sesame oil
toasted sesame seeds

saute garlic in sesame oil over med low heat until browned. throw in spinach and wilt. add seasoning and sprinkle with sesame seeds. enjoy!