Bread Machine

For the past several years now, since I got married (so almost 10 years now) I have wanted a Kitchen Aid mixer. It is always on my Christmas list in the number 1 slot. I have yet to get one! This year I also added, slightly lower on the list, a bread machine. My loving mother bought me one this year. I must say I do love it and am getting more use out of it right now than I would a new mixer. I really only need the mixer for the month of December when Christmas baking season hits and the boys birthdays arrive all in the same month. But the bread maker...that is going to be useful all year long.

I must start by saying I do not eat that much bread, well until I got the machine. Bread is evil for the waistline and full of white flour and sugar, 2 very evil things for me. But making your own bread is a wonderful thing and I am enjoying both the making (or at least watching the bread machine make it) and eating it.

My Uncle Ray gave me the bread machine version of my Grandmother's cinnamon buns and they are truly spectacular. I am so happy to have the recipe and be able to make them. It feels like my grandmother is right here with me.  I have also made her butter buns.

I made the boys raisin bread. I am thrilled to find that recipe because the price of a loaf in the stores in almost $5! Crazy.

And last night for New Year's I made a French bread loaf. Yummy!

I have made 2 loafs in the machine and had it bake them too. I am less thrilled with that, I made my grandmother's recipe letting the machine do the first rise and then I do the rest, those turned out best, so I may try more of those kind. Still eating yummy foods...pictures to come.
CC

Dinner

My dinner tonight was yummy. I used what I had in the fridge. I love those kinds of dinners:easy! I made a quinoa salad. I cut up avocado, red onion, tomatoes, green onion, red and orange peppers and mint. I had it in the fridge. (I love mint and is totally under used in my kitchen, so I added it for a wonderful fresh taste) Then I mixed it all together with my standard homemade salad dressing of olive oil, balsamic, lemon and black pepper. Yummy!

I also had a portobello mushroom and yesterday I made homemade pesto (thanks for the recipe, Dorothy) so I marinated the mushroom in oil and balsamic with black pepper then baked it at 425 for 10 mins then I took it out, covered it with the pesto and sprinkled a blend of asiago, parmesean and mozarella cheese and returned it to the oven for another 10 mins. I also sauteed fresh asperagus, my kids even ate that, it was so good.

For dessert I had fresh berries: blackberries, blueberries and raspberries which I topped with almonds. A really great, healthy, satisfying dinner. Eat well.

So I am off sugar again! I am really going to make it stick this time. I feel so much better when I eat this way. I just cannot let the sugar addiction get to me. I have been doing a ton of reading lately about sugar and how it affects the body. I am amazed that the human body is addicted to sugar. We crave it and shortly after we eat it, we get a low and crave it all over again. It is as bad as any drug including nicotine. It has been 5 days now since I have had any sugar and already my stomach feel thinner. Exercising is definetly helping too! I am incorporating vegan meals from my favorite vegan Alicia Silverstone. Most of them I made when I was eating vegan and really they are not that hard to make. I just want my kids to eat more of them so I do not have to keep making 2 dinners. Right now I am super motivated so I do not mind making two meals but shortly I am sure it will annoy me so when that happens I do not want to slip and eat sugar. So I have to get my boys on board! I put some collard greens and char on their plates under a honey mustard chicken breast. They ate the chicken but not the greens! That did not surprise me.

I went to the grocery store yesterday and saw some great foods with no sugar in them and was amazed at foods that claim to be sugar free but really do have a ton of sugar. (i.e. sugar free jam) The good foods were the almond butter, the pastas with whole grain or brown rice flour. But I am not buying that stuff yet. Right now I am not eating any bread because I am also not eating any white flour or whole wheat flour which are equally bad for my blood sugar level. But when I will start eating bread again, it unfortunately will not be the French Bread variety but more like the brown rice flour version which I admit is not as appetizing but much better for me.

The other thing I am doing differently this time is that I am eating cheese. I am not eating tons of brie but giving up cheese and bread is too hard for me so I am eating some cheeses. It makes eating the quinoa flour pasta more appetizing!

Well I am off to yoga! If someone had told me 20 years agao that I would be eating veganish (the ish) because I am eating cheese and meats occaisionally and doing yoga I would have laughed in their face. I was very anti both! Just goes to show you (in this case show me) never judge and never say never and do not knock it until you try it. I wish I had been eating like this for the past 20 years!

Blessings and keep eating yummy foods!
Carolyn

Holiday Baking

I know that it is early for holiday baking but I am in the mood. I cannot say that the weather is getting colder (although it was colder last week) today was glorious. Sunshine and warm! But I baked anyway. Today I made Raspberry Linzer Cookies from Fine cooking magazine. Well as you can imagine I did not follow the recipe exactly...I never do. I did not have any cloves so I skipped that all together. The only almonds I had were whole and so I crushed them myself with the skin on. I also did not use raspberry jam I had this huge container (from Costco) of acai, raspberry, pomegranate, and cherry jam. This gave the cookies a very distinct flavor. Good recipe, easy to make and kids friendly. Meaning the kids can help do many of the steps! Yummy Baking!

Dinner tonight

Tonight's dinner was an invention. I wanted to do something with steak and broccoli. I remember making it with Campbell's mushroom soup but did not have any which is a good thing because they are not that good for you! So I improved and made my own white sauce using better, flour, chicken broth and a few spices and then I added some shredded cheese. I pre cooked the broccoli and the meat. I sauteed the steak with onions and garlic and my newest tip is I cut the meat on a cutting board that I poured olive oil and sea salt onto. Gave the meat a stronger flavor. Then I mixed everything together. Dinner was good.

But since I don't eat much meat and try to stay away from flour, I ate the white bean and tomato salad with spinach and cantaloupe. Yummy!

I made pie! My first crust ever. I used fresh local berries and added fresh basil from my garden. The recipe from InStyle magazine, I got a subcriptions and it is the worst money even spent, was for strawberry basil. (It is a terrible magazine! But finally after my year subcription is up, I got something good out of the mag.) I did not have enough strawberries for the recipe, I included raspberries and marion berries and blueberries (all local) with the strawberries, went out to the garden and picked some basil and made the pie. The boys and I just ate it at 11am just before lunch! And it was Yummy!! Yeah for summer, gardens and fresh local food!

...fresh from the garden

I had a great dinner tonight. My garden is overflowing and since I have been away and have not been cooking from my garden regularly, I am now forced to cook and use all my veggies NOW! So tonight I had roasted zucchini, fresh peas I took out of the shell and ate raw. I had pickled beets that I made myself yesterday. I also sauteed the beet greens with red onion and garlic with olive oil. I added yummus and crackers and quinoa for added protein. A great vegan meal without even trying! I love my garden and summer. Yummy!