Where Have I Been?

I had not realized it had been 8 days since my last post! It has been such a busy 8 days that it flew by in a flash! I will get back to posting recipes, although I am afraid postings will be a bit light in the next week because I am getting ready for vacation! And boy do I need one! After the year we've had, a week of relaxing will do us all some good.

This past week was a very special one because my very dear friend, Carmen, got married! I was as excited for her wedding as I was for my own, maybe even a little more so. We've been friends with Carmen for 5.5 years. In that short time we've been through a lot together- the birth and illness of my daughter, a bad breakup, friends coming and going, crazy roadtrips and celebrity sightings, all night Gilmore Girls Marathons, and so much more. While I may not get to spend nearly as much time with her as I would like due to incredibly demanding schedules, she has been there for me through a lot, and is always supportive. She is such a wonderful person, the kind that lights up the room when she walks in. I am so touched that she asked me to stand up with her as one of her bridesmaids. I know the 3 others she asked were women that were extraordinarily important to her, and I was touched to be in the same group with them in her eyes.

In an earlier post I showed you the cake I made for her Bridal Shower back in April.
The Wedding festivities started for me on Thursday with a couple shopping trips with my Mom and my girls to get a few last minute items- like a dress to wear to the rehearsal, shoes, a purse, and earrings. I haven't really dressed up in a such a long time I didn't have any of the required items for a fancy night out. Oops! Friday we got pampered at my favorite Spa- Jon Bre- with manicures and pedicures. Much thanks to the Bride's mother for that wonderful afternoon! Then it was rehearsal time- which I think went off quite well. The Rehearsal Dinner was at small local wine bar/bistro called The Vintner's Cellar. I had spoken with the chef the day before and let her know of my dairy issue. She was very accomodating and made sure I had a completely Dairy Free meal that was just about the same as everyone- Prime Rib, sauteed veggies, and a bake potato (instead of mashed). I even got to have dessert at a restaurant for the first time in almost 5 years! While everyone else had peach cobbler, I had a baked peach. I will definitely be making that for my blog! It was all so very delicious! And I will most definitely be eating there again, and recommending them to others.

The Bride to Be and Me at the Rehearsal Dinner


Saturday was the big day of course, and it was a fabulous one. The Bride was so very beautiful in her dress, and it all seemed to go off without a hitch.


My weekend off from being a "mommy" ended with a summer cold invading our house- first the Baby, then the middle one, and now me. Not sure where it came from but I do know it needs to go away now. Especially since we are headed off on vacation in a couple days. And it's one we've been looking forward to for quite some time. I am loading us all up on Emergen-C, veggies, juice, water, homemade chicken noodle soup, and rest. Here's to hoping it works!

I do have some new recipes to share, and I will get them out to you as soon as I can.
Until then...
Happy Cooking:-)

(Almost) Homemade Baked Beans

Today is officially the First Day of Summer. Summer is all about backyard BBQs, burgers, and gatherings with friends. A must have side dish to one of our BBQs is baked beans. Now I know not everyone likes baked beans, but in my family we love them. My husband especially! For years I had been searching for a real bean pot- the kind you put in the oven. My mom uses one for her beans, and somehow it makes them so much better. She gave me my own pot for Christmas this past year, and I have already gotten a lot of use out of it. However, she won't give me her recipe. So I had to make up my own. That's more fun anyway;-)

My husband has been asking me to share this one with you all so here you go. Oh, and you don't have to use a bean pot, you could use an oven safe covered casserole dish, or a cast iron pot.

Did I mention my beans are vegetarian? No fatback, no bacon. We like to have these with my pulled pork BBQ, or with burgers, so I don't see the need for extra added fat in the meal. So if you're watching your meat intake, or are a vegetarian you can still make these!


Ingredients:
1 large can Bush's vegetarian baked beans.(Yes I use canned beans- it's quick and easy. That's why they are almost homemade)
1 medium white onion ( or Vidalia) chopped
1 large green pepper chopped
1/2 cup Sweet Baby Rays BBQ sauce
1 teaspoon Garlic powder
pinch cayenne pepper
1-2 teaspoons smoked paprika
1-2 teaspoons chipotle chili pepper
2 teaspoons ground cumin seed
*All spices are to taste so please adjust them as you like.



Directions:
Preheat oven to 325F.
1.Saute the green pepper and onion until they are softened and the onion is translucent.


2.Pour the beans into the pot. Add the cooked veggies to the beans, along with your bbq sauce and spices.

As you can see I didn't measure. I normally just eyeball my spices when I am cooking like this.
3. Stir well and place in the oven.


4. Let cook for a couple of hours, stirring occasionally.

As you can tell by this picture I seriously need to clean my oven! But it's been far too hot to turn on the self clean setting. I think I will wait until a cooler day in the Fall.

If you want to let these cook a long time- cook at 250F.
If you want them done quickly- after 45 minutes or so- cook at 350F.
I let mine go for about an hour and a half this time.
These are a tad spicy but not too bad since my 7 year old loves them. You can omit the cayenne pepper if you don't like spicy.

Happy Cooking!

8 Ball Squash Stuffed with Basmatti Rice and Veggies

Don't look now- it's another squash recipe! It's definitely squash season in our area, and we've been getting a lot from our CSA the past few weeks. Not that I am complaining at all- I happen to love squash. And so does our youngest daughter!

Last week we got some beautiful 8 ball (Or round zucchini) squash. They were absolutely perfect. I didn't want to just chop them up and throw them in something. I wanted to try something different with them. So I got online and started searching for recipes. I came across several stuffed 8 ball squash recipes. Some were very involved- using several ingredients I didn't have on hand. So I searched through my cabinets and came up with my own recipe.

I only used 2 of the squash because I was sure the kids wouldn't each eat a whole one. They ate the mixture we stuffed them with instead.

Ingredients:
2 good size 8 ball squash
1 small onion- diced
2 cloves garlic - pressed
about a cup of peas
1 cup Trader Joes Basmatti Rice Medley
Vegetable stock
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
salt and pepper to taste
teaspoon dried Rosemary
teaspoon dried Thyme


You'll notice a yellow squash in the picture- I ended up not using it.

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F.
1. Start cooking the rice first, since it takes the longest. Instead of using water, I used vegetable stock for more flavor. Follow the directions on the package

.

2.Prepare the squash. Cut the tops off, then cut the squash out in cubes. Set aside because you will be using this in the veggie and rice mixture.


3.Start preparing your veggie mixture: Preheat a skillet and add 1-2 tablespoons EVOO. Add your diced onion and pressed garlic. Let cook until the garlic becomes fragrant. Add the peas and squash. I added a little dried Rosemary and dried Thyme at this point. I would had used some fresh from my garden but it had been monsooning for a couple hours, and we were having quite the storm while I was preparing this.
Cook until the onions and squash soften. Once the rice is cooked, add it to the veggies and combine well.


4.Put the squash in a baking dish. I spray the baking dish with olive oil spray to prevent sticking. Brush the insides with a small amount of olive oil, and sprinkle them with salt and pepper.


Fill them both with the rice and veggie mixture:


And put the tops back on:


5.Bake for about 20 minutes, or until the squash is fork tender.

You'll be able to tell when it's done- the outer skin will be a tad darker than it was before it was cooked.

We served ours as the side dish to Slow cooker Braised Short Ribs (that recipe will be posted as well.) My husband and I both agree that the rice and veggie mix tasted like Thanksgiving stuffing- it was so good!

We always teach our children not to play with their food, but this time my husband just couldn't help himself.


And then he ate his masterpiece:-)

Kicking the Habit ~ the Soda Habit

I don't smoke, I have NEVER tried any sort of illegal drugs, I do drink alcohol but only in moderation- and not liquor. But I do have one addiction that started back when I was in high school- Soda. Pop, Coke, Tonic, Soda- whatever you want to call it. Diet Coke used to be my biggest vice- in college I drank more of that than anything else. I wasn't a coffee drinker so my caffeine came from my soda. First thing I would grab in the morning was a Diet Coke out of my mini fridge. I'd have soda at lunch too, and then grab another out of the vending machines on the way to my afternoon classes. You'd seldom find me without a soda- I always had a spare tucked in my bag. Looking back I know it was incredibly unhealthy of me but I was young and just didn't care. (I also lived off Taco Bell, Easy Mac, and Ramen Noodles- what was I thinking??)

Back about 5 years ago my husband and I learned the side effects of Aspartame, as well as the dangers of it. One of the most notable side effects for me was migraine headaches. I've always been prone to headaches, but starting in my last year of college I started getting horrible migraines. As soon as my husband came across the aspartame research, he suggested I stop drinking diet soda to see if that helped. Guess what- my headaches went away! I was actually able to give up soda at that time because I felt better. And we eliminated aspartame from our diet. We don't buy anything that contains it.

When I started having my health issues caused by my severe lactose intolerance, I dropped a lot of weight fast. I'm talking A LOT. I'm small to begin with so dropping 20lbs in the matter of a month is a lot. (Yes I went to the doctor, yes they kept tabs on my weight, I was on meds for GERD, and it all got straightened out-once we knew it was the dairy causing it all). I did have a hard time finding things to eat when we went out, and I would get sick feeling fast if I was hungry, so I started grabbing those mini cans of coke to take along with me. Those and a pack of almonds and I was all set. Of course, that got me back into my soda addiction- although this time was regular Coke. My husband is well aware that if there is soda in the house, I WILL drink it. So we had to stop buying them. I allowed myself to have 1 or 2 once a month ( at "THAT" time) but that was it.

Recently we had a huge party at our house and bought Pepsi and Sprite to have for our guests. Guess who has been drinking the leftovers? Me. Guess who put on a couple pounds in the past couple of weeks from the soda. Me. Now I haven't been able to put any weight on in a year. I didn't gain any extra over the recommended weight gain when I was pregnant with my last child, so I dropped it all (and a few extra pounds) immediately after she was born. And I have not put it back on. I am actually 2 sizes smaller now than I was the day I got married almost 9 years ago.This is thanks to eating an all Dairy free diet (and having 3 kids to chase around!) But it was eye opening to see that just 1 soda a day for a couple weeks actually caused me to gain weight. The only change to my diet has been the soda. But it is still so very hard for me to give it up. I've tried several times. And I justify my having it by reminding myself that I've already had to give up so many of my favorite foods, so why give up more? But the answer to that is easy- because it's not good for me. So I am going to try to really give it up (FOR GOOD). There are still a few cans left in the fridge in the garage but I am pretending they aren't there.

Yesterday afternoon I really wanted a soda. REALLY REALLY BADLY. But instead of reaching for one of these:



I reached for this:


And I brewed up some fresh iced green tea for myself.
Since I have this nifty electric tea kettle it takes a fraction of the time to boil water.


I like my tea strong (even my green tea) so I used two tea bags of Trader Joes Organic Fair Trade Green Tea- in a small pitcher I have. Since I was craving something sweet, I added 1 tablespoon of raw cane sugar to the hot tea.



Instead of grabbing a soda, I had a nice tall glass of this:


Hopefully I can keep this up! I am determined to give up soda once and for all- but bad habits are hard to break. The occasional root beer is exempt from this- I do like a root beer float about once a year:-) Pepsi and Coke are my vices and those are the ones I have to give up for good.

Do you have a food vice that you are trying to give up?