Speechless

Nothing really to say here, except this pizza was exceptionally good. That is all.

Wheatberries are a real thing

I got this recipe off of a blog I enjoy called www.bodiesinmotivation.com . I decided to try it because I love me some whole grains, and I had everything else at my house already. The star of the show are wheatberries. I am guessing it is the part of the wheat that goes to seed, but really I have no idea. Dried, they look like Israeli couscous or big buckwheat. Cooked, they soften up, but still have the texture of slightly undercooked rice. But they taste like cheerios!
This recipe calls for you to cook the wheatberries, then once they are done, you toss them in a dressing of olive oil, honey, ginger, coriander and lemon juice. Then you toss in a bunch of chives and toasted almonds. You are supposed to also put in cilantro, but I didn't have any. Also I am not a big fan, even though I do like coriander. Odd, I know. The addition I did make was to put feta on top. And man, was this delicious. I ate it again for breakfast the next day. Kind of strange to eat a savory breakfast, but the honey added enough sweetness that I didn't care. I almost would say this meal is better the next day because the flavors have had a better chance to mix.
This one is a total winner and already has a spot in a dinner for the week ahead.

Magic Beans

At the farm last weekend, I picked up some beans. I will call them magic beans. They probably have some sort of lame boring name that I don't feel like googling, so magic beans it is. They start off this lovely shade of purple, but after you cook them, they go green. Secretly I wish they stayed purple, but whatevs. They have a mild taste. They don't taste as green as a regular green bean, if that makes sense. I have thrown them in a few different side dishes, but this one was the winner. And it wins for simplicity too.

All I did was cut a bunch of red potatoes into chunks, throw in a bunch of the beans, also cut into chunks, and boil it in not-chicken broth till soft. The liquid cooked down, and the starchiness from the potatoes turned it into a gravy like consistency. For flavoring, all I used was salt and pepper and Italian seasoning. The end. Seriously, for as plain as this sounds, it was super good.

It's Jammer Time

Jam!
So, there is this farm by my house that has an awesome market of whatever they are picking right then, but it also lets you "pick your own" when it comes to certain things. Currently, (no pun intended!) the red currants are in season. I've had the dried out ones before that are basically the same as raisins, but I've never even seen a fresh one before. Ask me if I took a picture... of course not. Blergh. Anyway, my family went out and picked a box full and brought them home. The lady at the farm told us they make great pies or jam. Especially jam. Because they are pretty sour when you eat them raw.
We tried some raw, and while they were fairly sour, they tasted a lot like pomegranates. While we were paying for our goodies, we picked up a cute little box of pectin and decided jam was the way to go. Since I tried making strawberry jam last year and failed miserably, I was a little afraid. I decided that instead of ruining our whole box of currants straight away, I needed to practice.

I got some strawberries at the store, and followed the directions in the pectin box. It worked! While I was at the store getting the strawberries, I also picked up a bag of bruised apricots for a dollar, and made more jam with them. It worked too! Then it was time for the currants. Since I am such an expert now, I had no trouble. All of my jars sealed properly and are thick and sticky. This morning, I made some biscuits for us to have the jam on. It was the best breakfast I can remember!

Garlic

This isn't really a post about a recipe, but have you ever head fresh garlic? As in not dried in heads like every garlic you have seen? I got my hands on some from my favorite farm. They put most of it away to dry and sell later in the year, but some they sell fresh. This one happens to be some sort of Spanish purple variety. It looks like a regular head, but the paper part isn't all dried out. Its more like the layer on an onion that is under the paper, but that you still have to remove. And when you cut this garlic it has the feeling like if you cut an apple. Juciy, I guess? I don't really know how to describe it. I don't really notice a difference in the taste or anything, it is just cool as something different.

Tomato Basil Soup

Ah, tomato basil soup. I have avoided you for almost 30 years because I don't like tomato soup. How could I have been so wrong??

I ordered some up for the baby at this restaurant we were at, since he loves tomatoes. I tasted it myself out of curiosity and it was delish!! So then I had to try and copycat it at home. All that is in it is a big can of whole tomatoes, a ton of basil from my garden and some cream. I decided to put some onions in it too. Once it cooked for awhile, I buzzed it with the hand blender and it was good to go! Parents and babies alike think it is a keeper!

Copycat pasta salad

There is a certain boxed pasta salad that I LOVE. But since I am trying to eat less processed things, I decided to make it myself. And I must say, it wasn't too far off! I diced some carrots and cooked them with peas in one pot. In another pot I cooked some noodles. While all that was going, I cooked bacon in the microwave. Once it was all ready, and cooled down, I mixed it together. The sauce is a ranch sauce. Since we make our own ranch anyway, I just did what I usually do (and by that I mean what K does since he makes it) and it turned out pretty well! It wasn't exactly better living through chemicals, but good enough to take away my craving

Chicken Salad

Dang, I am really wishing I had written this post earlier because I cannot remember exactly how I made this chicken salad and it was unspeakably delicious! Lets see... I used chicken, duh. Onions, celery and granny smith apples.... I do know those apples were the key to everything. I think that was all the bits,
Now for the sauce.... mayo, of course. And lots of black pepper, some paprika... oh and lemon juice! That was the other key. It really freshened the whole thing up. I ate this non stop for 2 or 3 days till it was gone. I liked it on a tortilla as a wrap.
I really have to try this one again to see if what I wrote down here was right!