apple egg roll pies, pumpkin spice muffins and other stuff kids like

I picked this photo today not only because it's pretty, but because my son Dallas took it last week and asked if I would use it in my blog.
 He turned 8 this month, if your a parent you know how darn fast time flies.  8!! he's 8!! 
  Dallas is a lot like me, he grabs the camera and shoots, he loves crazy weather and he likes being in the kitchen with me, giving me ideas when he thinks I need them.
Today is the first of what I hope to be many posts geared towards stuff that kids like, well my kid likes anyway.
  After school the first thing Dallas wants is a snack.  I know, shocking right!   Most of the time it's something healthy and easy.  He loves Greek yogurt with some fruit and granola, a trail mix that he puts together from bulk items in the pantry, a smoothie or pretzels and carrots.
  But sometimes I like to throw together a little something special, but super easy, after all I don't have loads of time to spend on an after school snack.  Today I'm going to share some easy favorites, most can double for a dessert or even breakfast. 

so, here is what I did..

recipe #1

Apple "pie" in egg roll wrappers

apples, about 3 large peeled and cut
apple pie spice
sugar 2 T
3 T butter
won ton wrappers 4
Cinnamon or powdered sugar for dusting on top after cooking

You know, I never really measure the apple mixture, it's probably different every time, but today I tried to pay a little bit of attention.  Really though, it's like making a small amount of pie filling, any fruit you like would probably work just fine. 

I put the apples, apple pie spice and 1/2 the butter and sugar in a sauce pan with a splash of water and cook on med low for about 10 minutes.   I just want the fruit tender.

I'm not tied to this brand or anything, I just wanted to show you what I used for the "crust".  Nothing homemade here, I took the help.  :-)

So I take my apple mixture and put it on the egg roll wrapper.  It looks like it might be over stuffed, but the wrapper rises and the filling shrinks, so it works out good. 
  Fold the wrapper over sealing with water using your fingers, I like to roll the corners in a bit too.

Place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment and brush both sides of mini pie with melted butter and sprinkle with a little bit of sugar if you want.  sometimes I use sugar on top, other times I don't.

bake in a 425degree oven for about 15 minutes or until golden brown. 

dust with cinnamon or powdered sugar.

Oh, I know, sugar sugar everywhere, but it's going to my active son, not me .....well maybe one for me. lol


recipe #2

pumpkin spice muffins (this could not BE any easier)

this recipe has been around so long I don't even remember, I've been doing it for years.  It's always good.

1 box spice cake mix
1 can pumpkin
1/2 cup or so of raisins

that's it.

mix the cake mix with the can of pumpkin.  It's hard to stir at first, but it will incorporate.  stir in raisins.

place cupcake liners in muffin tin if you want,  I use an ice cream scoop to place batter into each muffin liner.  you should get 12 muffins.
  OR you can use a mini muffin tin, you will yield 2-3 dozen smaller muffins

cook big muffins at 400degrees for 20 minutes, 10 minutes for mini muffins.

mmm mmm good!  We never get tired of these.  You will love how moist they are.

and recipe #3

mini crock pot warm apple compote.

4 golden delicious apples, peeled and diced
as much cinnamon as you like.
1/2 cup dried apricots cut into quarters
a splash of apple juice

put it all in one of those cute little crock pots, cook on low for about 4 hours.

We like it by itself or on top of a toasted whole grain waffle (the kind you get in the frozen isle), or on top of oatmeal for breakfast.

Please give these a try, none are labor intensive and all are very easy. 

Happy eating kids!

spring veggie pasta with herbed cream cheese sauce

It was a dark and stormy night....No really it was.   Our first big storm of the season.  It was really quite scary, and it kept me up most of the night.  Before the storm came in full force it was really a quite pleasant, if not windy evening.  I had fresh spring vegetables calling my name and the family was in the mood for pasta.  I love pasta.

   My husband and son are both very partial to cream sauce on their pasta, I like little or no sauce, but it was a make the men happy night so I made a herbed cream cheese sauce. Well I didn't so much MAKE it, I used pre-made herb cream cheese.  It really is a nice yummy short cut to a fast dinner.  Make your own if you like, but when a storm is blowing in, and you want dinner in a hurry before the electricity goes out, I'll take the short cut.

Here's what I did.
1/2 a bag whole wheat bow tie pasta and 1/2 a bag white bow tie pasta ( I just like the mix)
2 leeks white and light green parts sliced
1/2 a bag of "Quorn meatless and soy free chick'n tenders"  ( I love Quorn products)
as much asparagus, fresh green beans as you like a cup each was good for me
1 crookneck squash cut bite sized
salt and pepper to taste
1 6oz package of herb cream cheese (like Rondele)
a handful of fresh basil, rolled and then sliced
about 3/4 cups (more or less as you like) cherry tomatoes, I used orange ones because I had them

First I softened the leeks and browned the Quorn chick'n in some olive oil, took about 10 minutes
And in another pot cook the pasta in salted water.

I added the other vegetables.  Use what you have in the fridge at this step, peas, zucchini, broccoli, colored peppers, I don't think you could really go wrong as long as the veg is fresh and yummy.
  Saute for another 5-10 minutes on med heat, until the veggies were firm but tender and cooked through.
  I then removed pasta from water with a spider and place into veggie mix pan.  Or you can drain the pasta in a colander, reserving some pasta water to thin out sauce if needed.  Stir all together, check for seasoning add salt and pepper if needed.

  Now you want to stir in your cream cheese,  I scooted everything to the side of the pan, put the cream cheese in the middle so it could melt and then stirred everything together.  I  used a little bit of pasta water also.

  Plate your pasta in a nice big shallow bowl if desired, or just garnish in the pan you cooked it up in. 
Garnish with the basil and sliced tomatoes.

   A nice spring pasta on a stormy night. Just add wine and candles. :-)  

Happy Eating



 

Potato, rutabega, leek and cheese soup. SO much better than it sounds.

I am reminded that winter will be gone next week.  I love winter.  OK, not so much a San Antonio winter, because it only lasts about 10 minutes here.
   I love winter where it snows, where soup is the meal of choice, fires in the fireplace and a glass of red wine in hand.  Cuddled up on the couch with a cozy blanket and my husband is good with me. 
  Truthfully though, January and most of February here is nice and chilly for the most part. Heck it even froze a night or two.  We had fires, wine and soup.
 This last weekend I thought I would get one more winter soup day in.  I am glad I did because this soup was a winner.  Oh my, the taste was mild yet rich in flavor.  Perfect.

  I had a hodgepodge of root veggies in my pantry.  Feel free to use whatever you have in the potato department.  Remember, recipes are a template, add and take away things that YOU enjoy or have on hand.

Here is what I did.

3ish Tbsp ghee (because I really like ghee, use butter or olive oil if you want)
1 clove garlic
3 leeks sliced fine into light green
2 rutabagas
1 Yukon gold potato
1 russet potato
1 stalk of celery chopped fine
about a cup of aged white cheddar, I used 'Cougar gold'*
white pepper and salt to taste ( I like white because you can't see it)
enough chicken or veggie broth to cover veg mix

paprika to garnish, along with either parsley or baby spouts.  I used sprouts because I thought it looked pretty.  My son had no sprouts. :-)

 *Cougar Gold is a cheese that my parents give me every year around Christmas time.  It is made at Washington State University.  Oh my gosh it is such good cheese. Served best room temperature with crackers and such.   I love cooking with it.  This sharp white cheese melts wonderfully and pairs very well with eggs, and come to find out with this soup.

I like to slice my potatoes thin.  That way when it comes time to use the immersion blender it goes quickly.  If you have a mandolin slicer it will make this soup even more easy.  I need to get myself one of those.

  So slice the potatoes and rutabagas, mince the garlic, slice the leeks, cut the celery.

I then add the ghee into a hot soup pot, melt it then add garlic, leeks  and celery.  cook until softened.  add potatoes and rutabagas stir everything together and add enough broth to cover.  3  cups ish.

I let it simmer about an hour, then I went in with a hand held potato masher for a few mashes, then brought out my immersion blender.  Love this!  If you don't have one, get one.

After everything was blended, I tasted, added S&P to my liking, then I added my cheese.  I am guessing that it was about a cup. I really just broke off chunks from my block and threw it in.  You might want to grate and measure. lol I'm not good at that yet.

  stir the soup until nice and creamy and all the cheese is melted, tasted again, you should be smiling.

dish up and enjoy.  I want winter to stick around a bit more so I can make this soup over and over again.

Happy eating.

Tabbouleh, because I have a lot of mint right now

Mint goes nuts in a garden, it can really take over everything.  I finally learned my lesson and put my mint in a separate container.   It's good stuff, but every once in a while I have more than I can handle.  I give bunches away and try to think of ways to use it up.  Oh, my parsley loves me too, I have a lot of it right now also.  hmm, what's a girl to do?
  Well, I decided that tabbouleh was the way to go.  I had everything I needed at home anyway, it's easy and the whole family loves it.  Try it, you will love it. 
  Serve as a side salad with some grilled fish, or enjoy it as a light snack.  However you serve tabbouleh it's worth the little bit of effort.
 A traditional tabbouleh has more parsley than Bulgar, I like that on occasion, but not today.
 My version of tabbouleh is fresh, more Bulgar than parsley and lightly seasoned, like most of the food I prepare, I enjoy the flavor of the FOOD, not overly spiced food....unless of course it's my new love Indian food, but that's a whole 'nother subject.

This is what I did.

  1 cup uncooked med cut wheat Bulgar. prepare and set aside to cool a bit.
...
cut up a whole bunch of grape tomatoes, as much as you like
same with peeled, seeded cucumber (I used 2 med ones)
1/2 a small sweet onion finely diced
about a cup of finely chopped mint,
a bit more than a cup of finely chopped Italian parsley
2 big lemons, juiced
salt and pepper to taste.

add Bulgar in, toss drizzle(generously) with a good olive oil. mix it up. let it set in the fridge for an hour. taste and season w/ more lemon or salt and pepper if needed.

keeps for 3 days or so in the fridge.

  You can buy Bulgar almost everywhere these days.  Look in the ethnic food section of your grocery store.  Other stores will have Bulgar by the rice and couscous, and any store with bulk bins normally carry Bulgar in bulk. 
  It is cracked wheat, and it's delish.

For me, preparing fresh, clean food is good for the soul.  Enjoying good food is great! 

fragrant rice and some moong dal. Lets spice things up a bit

The other day my son and I watched a show about the Taj Mahal.  Of Course we decided that we had  to go there. My husband rolled his eyes and said he would put it on the list.  I have grand life travel plans you see, my very patient husband has to hear all the time about how I want to go here or there.  Looks like we better start saving more, my son has now go the travel bug too.
  So, since we probably won't be going to India anytime soon I decided to jump into the world of Indian food.  I have always enjoyed eating it, but was intimidated to cook anything not basic an easy.  Well I've been reading recipe after recipe, and even ordered myself a new cookbook, that should arrive tomorrow.  I'm excited to start trying some new things in the kitchen.
  I have known for years what my Dosha is, I am a Vata, I try my best to eat Vata friendly foods whenever I can, have for years.  How do I know that?  In my 30's I started doing yoga in a Hindu facility in the Los Angeles area, I learned so much about this beautiful religion, and also an appreciation for Indian food.  I've held on to some of that knowledge, and I still practice Yoga some 15years later. Anyway, I digress.
My Husband is a Kapha and my son a nice mix of Vata-Pitta.  Makes cooking for my Dosha mixed family nice and easy, lol.  I think after some time though I can make all our Doshas happy.   Oh, go google it, I'm not explaining the whole thing now. 
   My oven has been broken for a week, the igniter or something, It won't be fixed for another week, so I had to do stove top cooking, I don't like being limited. I needed some new culinary fun anyway!
  I think my Indian dinner was super yummy.  My son and husband both agreed and finished up everything.  I truly thought I made enough for the next day lunch.  Nope, the Wilson family is feeling spicy!

So, here's what I did
but first here is a photo of my well used bag of dal, just incase somebody does not know what it is.  Just split yellow lentils.

The moong dal was a very basic recipe that I know by heart, I have it for lunch a lot. I don't even remember how I got it.  It's mild in spice, but very flavorful. I didn't last night, but I will often add basmati rice to the mix.  1/2 and 1/2 split with the dal.

1 cup Moong Dal
1/4 cup Ghee
2t cumin seeds
1t turmeric
1 medium onion sliced thin
3ish cups water
salt and pepper to taste
cilantro garnish if you want.

heat ghee over medium heat, add cumin and turmeric, saute until you hear popping.
about 30 seconds to a minute.
add onion, saute until wilted and browning.
add dal and H20, simmer 35-45 minutes, add more water as needed to keep dal just covered. 
when water is all but soaked in and the dal is tender, taste, salt and pepper to your liking and simmer another 10 min or so. 
stir in cilantro if using, or you can just garnish your serving.

Now the best part, the rice!

This was a mix of some of the recipes I had read online all day, I put together bits and pieces of what appealed to me.  My son said it tasted like a gingerbread cookie.

2 cups basmati rice
a big drizzle of olive oil
1t mustard seed
1 big carrot, diced
1/2 a large onion, diced
1T fresh ginger, minced
3 med sized cloves garlic, minced
2 smallish bay leaves
1/2 t turmeric
1t garam masala
big dash of salt
1/2 cup raisins
1/4 cup rounded of cashews
3 cups veggie broth ( I but a veg bullion cube in boiling water and added that.)

It would probably have been good to add a handful of cilantro too, but my son does not like it so I didn't, but I can't see how it would hurt, if you like cilantro.

heat olive oil and mustard seed in a medium to large pot, when you hear popping add onions and carrots.  Cook for a few minutes, or until the onions start to get soft.
Stir in ginger, garlic,bay leaves, turmeric, garam masala and salt.  stir until combined.

add rice, raisins and nuts and water or broth.  bring to boil then cover and simmer 20 minutes.  after 20 minutes remove from heat and leave covered for 10 more minutes. 

As you can see, I served the dal and rice with basic buttered and steamed green beans.  I didn't want to scare everybody with a crazy vegetable too. ;-)

I am looking forward to trying and sharing many new Indian dishes in the future.  Hopefully inspiring some of you to try it.  Heck if I can do it, you can too!

Namaste.