Random Stuff I Tossed Together...

Stressed out, hungry....what's a girl to do?

Random Stuff I Tossed Together

Grab 3 random veggies from fridge, toss with olive oil, garlic and salt and oven roast 375 for 30 min

Make rice in rice cooker 

Grab bag of shrimp out of freezer, boil half way in shallow saute pan, adding chopped kale at the end and drain

Then saute everything including the roasted veggies in a tiny bit more evo and serve with rice

Enjoy!

Hoppin' John for New Year's Day

Hoppin' John

I'm eating some Hoppin' John today for good luck for 2020. I've tried several recipes over the years and am always leaning towards the vegetarian version for some reason. Maybe I over indulged in richer foods over the holidays... And this is my healthier recipe with a bit of spice!

Ingredients

2 T olive oil

1/2 large red pepper diced

4 oz chopped green chilles

3 stalks of celery diced

2 carrots diced

3/4 cup chopped kale

2-3 cloves of garlic minced

2 tsp smoked paprika

1 1/2 tsp chili powder

1 1/4 tsp kosher salt

1/4 to 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1 can of fire roasted tomatoes

1 can of black eyed peas drained

Saute first 7 ingredients til translucent.

Then add can of tomatoes, spices and drained black eyed peas.

Cook at low heat for 20-30 minutes.

Serve over Jasmine rice and with cornbread if you like. 

Happy New Year!

Apple Pecan Cake

Apple Pecan Cake

This cake is tasty and moist inside and perfectly crunchy on the outside. 

I made this Christmas Day. It was so good...Try it! You'll like it!

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups of vegetable oil

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

3 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

3 large apples cut into 1 cm cubes, leave skin on

1/2 cup pecans or walnuts cut roughly

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix all wet ingredients first, then add dry ingredients, and finally apples and nuts.

Use your muscles. Strong arms are sexy. 

Spoon batter into nonstick sprayed bundt pan. Bake 1 hour and 15 min. 

Chill out and read or listen to music. 

Test cake with shish kabob skewer. If it comes out clean, it's done.

Decorate with powdered sugar once cooled.

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Bread

Pumpkin Bread

I don't go for all those pumpkin flavored drinks at Starbucks. Or the bizarre stuff you start seeing at the grocery store once September hits: Pumpkin Spice Hummus, Pumpkin Spice Cheerios or Life Cereal, Pumpkin Spice Pepperidge Farm Milano Cookies, Pumpkin Spice Oreos, Pumpkin Spice Greenies for your dog.....Too much!

But, I do like making a good pumpkin chocolate chip cookie, pumpkin pie or pumpkin bread this time of the year. So, here is one of the best Mother Lovin' Pumpkin Bread Recipes I have found. It stays moist inside while getting a nice crust to the outside of the loaf. Try it!

Pumpkin Bread

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray nonstick spray to two loaf pans.

* 1 15 oz can of Organic Pumpkin

* 2 large eggs

* 2 cups of sugar

* 1 1/2 sticks of butter softened

Mix all of this together at medium to high speed in mixer.

Then, add

* 2 cups of all purpose flour

* 1/2 tsp salt

* 1 tsp baking soda

* 1/2 tsp baking powder

* 1 tsp of ground cloves

* 1 tsp ground cinnamon

* 1 tsp ground nutmeg

Mix some more. Use spatula to make sure everything is incorporated.

Put mixture into 2 greased loaf pans. Bake 60 minutes. Test to make sure done. If not, add 5-10 minutes. Enjoy!

***Optional: Add demerara sugar crystals to tops of loaves 3/4 the way through baking process for nice crunch and look to your finished product.*** 

Fried Egg and Avocado Toast

I had heard of this nice combo of avocado and egg before. Maybe my first taste of something similar was a western omelet at a diner in San Francisco in the mid 1980's. But my first real taste of this avocado egg toast in the last year was at a great coffee shop named Drift in OIB, NC (Ocean Isle Beach is a little beach town 1 hour south of Wilmington, NC and 45 min north of Myrtle Beach, SC).

It's a real hit with my family on the weekends as it is kind of breakfast like and kinda lunch like. If you have teenagers, you know they like waking up during "brunch" time!

Here's the recipe:

Avocado Toast with Fried Egg

* Cut and mash 1 whole avocado with knife then fork with 1 tsp lemon or lime juice and 1/2 tsp garlic powder. Set aside.

* Cut up a handful of grape tomatoes and set aside.

* Toast 4-5 slices of whole grain bread.

* Fry 4-5 eggs.

* Spread avocado spread on toast, layer on fried egg, add on cut grape tomatoes, season with sea salt and pepper. Sprinkle on sunflower seeds for extra protein.

* Enjoy!

Goes nicely with fruit salad and some bacon. Delish!

Two-Bean Enchilada Casserole

Cold and snowy out today, so I decided to cook! Here is my Two-Bean Enchilada Casserole recipe from Better Homes and Gardens:
www.bhg.com/recipe/two-bean-enchilada-casserole/
And my photos:

Mom and Dad's 50th Anniversary and Food

To celebrate my parents today on their 50^th anniversary, I will talk about food.

No, I will not do a power point behind me with a montage of food photos from my Instagram or Facebook or family and friends of mine’s great food photos for this. That might be a tad distracting. Though I was tempted… Don’t berries look just luscious in the right light? Well, anyway.    

Berries

Food to me is a symbol of love. The time and thoughtfulness and care that are needed in the proper preparation of food are very similar to the same care needed to tend to love. Mom and Dad’s 50 years of marriage is a culmination of good talk, good food and love. Thank you all for being here to honor and celebrate that love!

I am going to share with you some quotes about food and love and my brief thoughts on them

1. "One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well." ― Virginia Woolf   Okay.. so mom was and is a really good cook! So that means by default we are all a tad smarter, nicer to people and got a good night’s sleep if we have ever partaken in an Ann Donaldson meal. So, dad…that explains how you got into MIT. Mom’s love and food gave you an edge!

2. "Cooking is like love: It should be entered into with abandon or not at all." — Harriet van Horne   Yes, cooking is dangerous! It sometimes involves flame, knives, extreme heat and oils, etc. right?!Have you seen my mom make peanut brittle? The woman has asbestos hands pulling molten hot sugar. But it’s all worth it, right? So, is love. To a certain extent you have to run into it blind, because if you really overthought it you would probably just not do it.

3. "If you really want to make a friend, go to someone’s house and eat with him...the people who give you their food give you their heart." — Cesar Chavez   This is very true. I’m grateful for our dinner parties with friends and family growing up in mom and dad’s house. Those are some of my best memories.

4. "The main facts in human life are five: birth, food, sleep, love and death." ― E.M. Forster   Yep…that about sums up what life is all about.

5. "All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt." ― Charles M. Schulz   Love release endorphins. So does chocolate. It’s all good.

And to wrap up this little food / love talk for my parents, I will leave you with this:

6. "People who love to eat are always the best people." — Julia Child

Translation, you are all connected to my parents. My parents are foodies, my brother and myself and our respective partners are foodies. I think most of the people here today love good food! That means by default, you are the best people. This is Julia Child telling us this folks. No lie!

Eat, drink, enjoy! Here’s a toast to the host and the hostess with the mostest…love, that is! Cheers!

                                                                                      Love, Heather

         

Anniversary luncheon