Sausage, Kale Kabocha Squash Pasta

What to do when you have Kale and Kabocha squash on hand?  Make pasta of course.

Roast the squash at 350, face down in a pan with some water until they are done.  Don't be like me and be impatient, it takes time.  Squash is not as delicious when it is under done.

Cook sausage and green onion in a skillet.

Toss washed and chopped Kale on top.  Cook until wilted.

Add in cubed, cooked squash.  Please not my squash was under done and a bit crunchy.  Don't be like me.

Toss it all with some pasta and some cream cheese for a simple, cheesy sauce.

Top with parmesan and enjoy.  Perhaps some red pepper flakes if you are feeling adventurous.

Jalapeno Hummus Bread

So I had this overwhelming amount of homemade hummus that I had no chance of eating all of.  Note to self, don't cook and entire package of dried chickpeas at one time.

Anyway, I found some inspiration...

http://www.food.com/recipe/jalapeno-hummus-bread-441362

It turned out ok.  It was a little sweet for my taste because I used sweet pickled jalapenos and the hummus was a little sweet to begin with.  I must say though it was great for lunch with cream cheese, sea salt and tomato as an open face sammich.  It definitely tasted better with stuff on it as opposed to on its own.

Rutabaga/Turnip Mash with Mushroom Gravy

I'll start by saying I don't remember if they were rutabagas or turnips because I have had so much of both in my life lately.  They seem to be in season....

Everything but the cheese on top came from Greenling.

Start by sauteing sliced mushrooms with green onions.  When they are done toss on a bit of flour and cook for a few minutes.  Whisk in some stock, water or milk depending on your taste and you have a nice little gravy.

Boil diced rutabaga/turnip

Once they are done, drain and mash.  I added a bit of chicken stock rather than milk to keep it a little healthier.

Serve the gravy on top of the mash.  I put a bit of laughing cow cheese on top, blue cheese flavor, and man was that good.

Potato and Collard Hash

Another dinner from my Greenling box.  I had to potatoes already, but the collards and green onion came from the box.

Dice two potatoes and one large green onion and places them in a skillet over medium

Cook covered for about ten minutes.  Stir them place washed and chopped collard greens on top.  Don't worry about drying the collards too much, the water will cook off quickly.

Don't stir too much because you want the potatoes to get crispy.  Once the potatoes are done to your liking create an open space in the middle of the skillet and crack an egg in.  Salt and pepper the egg.

Put the lid back on for 3ish minutes to cook the whites of the egg but keep the yolk runny.

Serve and enjoy.  Makes a great dinner or brunch.

Spaetzle

As it turns out homemade spaetzle isn't that hard.  Make a dough out of eggs, flour, water and spices.  It should be a thin dough so that it can go through the spaetzle maker.  Pour it in over boiling water, once they float they are done.  Toss the cooked spaetzle in whatever you like, we chose cheese :)

February 2012 Fitness

January was a work out FAIL.  I only worked out 6 times.  6/31 is a really bad ratio just in case you are wondering.  The good news is that I did the Big D Climb for the third year in a row and my time was right at 13.5 minutes, which I am thrilled with.

The February fitness test was two weeks late, but here it is


Squat Jump - 22
Pushup - 20
Burpee - 8
High Knees - 80
Switch Lunge - 12
Tuck Jump - 9
Straight Abs - 14

The results aren't great, some are better than others but oh well.  This was my second workout in February, here is to hoping that I do better this week.

Lazy Dinner

So what do I do when I get home and am positively starving and don't have any leftovers to eat?  Make a quesadilla of course.

Put the tortilla in a skillet on medium or high depending on how impatient you are until it is warm then flip it over and top with cheese and seasonings (I prefer chili powder).  Fold it in half and keep cooking on each side until it is brown and crispy.  Serve with sour cream and if you are like me some Sauerkraut so there is a little vegetable in your life.

Who needs a 30 minute meal when you have a 5 minute meal?

Local Brussels with Chicken

First meal made out of the local box.

I used this recipe as inspiration for the Brussels.  

http://www.howsweeteats.com/2012/02/toasted-coconut-brussels/

Of course I didn't have all the ingredients.  Instead of coconut oil, I used rendered chicken fat as my oil and I didn't bother tossing them with salt and pepper in a bowl before they went into the skillet.  They is just one extra dirty bowl that isn't necessary.  Once they were nice and caramelized, I turned the heat to low and tossed in 1-2 tablespoons of coconut butter instead of coconut milk.  That melted in nicely so I stirred that around to coat all the lovely Brussels.  Instead of shredded coconut I used these Coconut Chips.

http://www.daniellechips.com/

I ordered a huge variety box of these chips a while back and am trying to find ways to use them up.  In case you are wondering coconut is their best flavor.

As for the chicken...

Mix together:

Cooked Chopped Chicken (I had boiled some bones and pulled the meat off of them but if you have leftover chicken breast or just want to cook up a breast and use that, totally up to you) 

Two celery stalks that have been diced

One diced green onion

Two eggs

3/4 cup Panko Bread Crumbs

Seasonings (Perhaps Paprika, Garlic Powder, Salt and Pepper)

Press firmly into a meatball shape and cook on a lightly greased griddle or skillet until brown on both sides.

If you want a quick sauce mix together some stone ground mustard, mayonnaise and pickle juice.  Goes nicely with this.

Bread Makes me Happy

Please make this bread some time.

http://www.serenejourney.com/2009/03/quite-possibly-the-best-homemade-crusty-bread-ever/

The loaf smelled so good when it was baking that I really wanted to cut into it right when it came out of the oven, but I had to wait until the next day.

This is possibly the pretties bread I have ever made.  And it was as good as it looks.  The whole thing was consumed within 24 hours of it being sliced for the first time.  Fortunately I didn't eat all of it, but I sure did want to.  Next time I might experiment with some other flours rather than just all purpose.

Using Leftovers - Chicken Wings

Considering that more chicken wings will get consumed this weekend than any other time this post seems appropriately timed.  My pathetic ability to consume large amounts of food recently left me with 3 of the 5 wings I ordered left over.  These particular wings came from Pluckers and are Lemon Pepper.

There is also a chunk of left over summer sausage that got thrown in just because.  Cover about a cup of split peas in about 2 cups of water and get them a simmering.

Chop up the meats, leaving out all the inedible bits like bones.

Toss them in with the peas and cook for about 30 minutes (enough time to get in a quick workout).  Stir on occasion and add more water if need be.  Taste for salt (wings and sausage have quite a bit so you don't want to over do it) and add more as necessary.

Serve up and enjoy.

Greenling = Love

Dallas now has a local produce delivery service and it makes my heart swoon.

www.Greenling.com

Today I received my first local box.  In the mix:

Crimini Mushrooms - Kitchen Pride
Arugula Herb - Generation Farm
Rutabagas - Just Peachy Farm
Brussels Sprouts - Hillside Farm
Marrs Oranges - G&S Groves
Texas Grapefruit - G&S Groves
Greens (Kale, Mustards or Collards) - Paul Quinn Farm OR Good Earth Organics
Spinach - Gundermann AcresGreen
Cabbage - Gundermann Acres

The cabbage was bigger than my head.  Mom was excited about the thought of making kraut again so I am going to bring it with me to their house over the weekend to make some kraut out of it.  It is big enough that we can easily share it.  It is about time for more of it, my last batch is almost gone.  

In addition to the local box, I got a gallon of local milk.  It tastes amazing and I will be having a glass with a ginger cookie tonight for dessert.

I will keep you posted on what the rest of the produce ends up becoming.