Greg Kinnear....my other boyfriend

I love this guy.

Greg Kinnear.

He is kind of like the middle age woman's dream.

He's not too young, not too old....

still has a nice body

Not perfect, but yet quite appealing.

You dont feel quilty dreaming a lil dream about him

uh huh.

m

Vegetarian French Onion Soup

Last night I finally cut into the big bag of onions we picked at Miller Farms.

I apparently have never used a truely fresh onion, because these onions were full of moisture, not super eye killing and so tasty.

I made some divine 

Vegetarian French Onion Soup

 Olive oil and or butter (Whichever you prefer, I added both)

5-7 large Onions

1 clove garlic

mustard powder or brown sandwich mustard

1/2 T. sugar

Thyme to taste

S&P to taste

1-2 boxes Veggie Broth (I used Organic boxed)

splash of soy sauce (optional)

for the Top:

Baguette 

Grueyerre cheese or Swiss  ( Swiss is easier to find)

Thinly slice all the onions.

Chop one clove of garlic

Use a large, heavy bottomed pot and heat the oil and butter

Add the onions.

It seems like a lot, but the will cook down.

Stir the onions and at this point I add the sugar, mustard, and Thyme.

let cook, but stir occasionally…it will make quite a bit of liquid but it will cook out.

As the onions start to brown turn down the heat, [ut the lid on and let them cook for about an hour, stirring eery 10-15 minutes.  They will begin to turn brown.

After about an hour, and the onions all look cooked, there may be a bit of browness stuck to the bottom of your pan, slowly add the broth and soy sauce while stirring and scraping the brown off the bottom.

Add as much broth to make it soupy.

When all done, taste and add seasoning.

put in bowl add crouton/sliced french bread, and cheese,

put under broiler in oven at 500 for 1 minute until Cheese is melted.

Eat it…yummmmmmm

xo 

m

that no knead bread they are all talkin about

So, I haven't really done anything fabulous in a while.  This lil number was as debatable as fabulous, but I liked it.

Its the No Knead Bread from Jim Lahey

The first loaf I made I tried some whole wheat flour...It failed miserably.  It was a flat gummy mess.  The next one, I just used the exact formula (duh) and it was quite good.   Yummy good, with a slight taste of sourdough.

If you make it, you need a cast iron pot.  I used a 5 qt.  I didn't have one, so I went to Bed, Bath and Beyond....that sucker was 148$ !!!!

 screw that.  I then remembered I had seen some at World Market...they were 49$ and came in all kinds of groovy colors.  PERFECT!!!

hint #2:  only use the 1/4 t. yeast, don't be tempted to add more.

Well Here's the recipe.  I've heard there are many variations on the internet, but this is the real one...you can also youtube it.

this is after I let it rise for 12 hours then dumped it onto a floured piece of parchment

then it had to rise again for about 2 hours

the final outcome...yummy!!!!!

We dipped the pieces in Olive oil, red pepper flakes, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper.

here's the recipe:

3 cups (430g) flour

1½ cups (345g or 12oz) water

¼ teaspoon (1g) yeast

1¼ teaspoon (8g) salt

olive oil (for coating)

extra flour, wheat bran, or cornmeal (for dusting)

Equipment: 

Two medium mixing bowls

6 to 8 quart pot with lid (Pyrex glass, Le Creuset cast iron, or ceramic)

Wooden Spoon or spatula (optional)

Plastic wrap

Two or three cotton dish towels (not terrycloth)

Process: 

Mix all of the dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Add water and incorporate by hand or with a wooden spoon or spatula for 30 seconds to 1 minute. Lightly coat the inside of a second medium bowl with olive oil and place the dough in the bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rest 12 hours at room temperature (approx. 65-72°F).

Remove the dough from the bowl and fold once or twice. Let the dough rest 15 minutes in the bowl or on the work surface. Next, shape the dough into ball. Generously coat a cotton towel with flour, wheat bran, or cornmeal; place the dough seam side down on the towel and dust with flour. Cover the dough with a cotton towel and let rise 1-2 hours at room temperature, until more than doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 450-500°F. Place the pot in the oven at least 30 minutes prior to baking to preheat. Once the dough has more than doubled in volume, remove the pot from the oven and place the dough in the pot seam side up. Cover with the lid and bake 30 minutes Then remove the lid and bake 15-30 minutes uncovered, until the loaf is nicely browned.

good luck!  let me know how it turns out!

xo, m

reboot day 1.5

first juicing experience was, let's just say...earthy.  I kind of went overboard:

5 kale leaves,

cucumber

1 red beet

4 stalks of celery

Whole lemon (not a good idea)

3 carrots

3 granny smith apples

it made enough for Bobby and I (2 pints)...it smelled like earth and tasted like the wet lawn...but we drank it.  Bobby chugged his.  I slowly drank mine then added a bit of ice and choked down the rest.

I had 62 oz of water in the next 3 hours.

I noticed the mental hunger pains right away.  We were at the pool and I started thinking about the nachos they were eating from the concession  oooey gooey disgusting nachos that I would NEVER think of eating.

It got so bad, every time a person with a distinct Nationality walked by I would think :

mmmm I could eat some sushi

yummy I could eat some burritos

ooooh yeah, babaganoush

that was pretty bad.

the meal plan for the reboot has you eat one raw meal, so last night I had all raw veggie salad with broccoli slaw (which comes prepared ...no dressing just julianned veggies) i added fresh yellow pole beans, 1 tomato and a splash of apple cider and mustard...shook it up, a few squirts of hot-sauce...done  (just typing hot sauce makes me hungry).

Bobby, on the other hand apparently snuck in and had a tuna sandwich on white bread...oh well.

This morning I woke up, not hungry really, still haven't pooped, but I don't have a headache or anything like they said I might.

for breakfast i had:

strawberries,

3 stalks celery

3 carrots

nectarine

1 granny smith

1 red delish

it was quite yummy

I have many chores to do, including body maintenance ie: wax, paint, color

gonna try to stay busy enough to not think about it.

Shut Yo Mouth....

Today, while I mop the floors, vaccuum, do laundry then work on Halloween Costumes I will be dreaming of my new boyfriend:

Josh Kloss

(mmmmmmmmmmmmm)

Take a few minutes to enjoy, because I'm sure, if you are like me, that is the most you can do with any type of creature as such.  I'm not sure I've ever even touched anything like that before.

He's the guy in the Katy Perry "Teenage Dream" video 

Ah hem, excuse me....

Back to my chores...

God, I'm horny now.

laundry, Princess Leia costume...etc...etc...

posting pics later,

ps:

If anyone has an extra something resembling Mr Kloss above, please send to Longmont, I won't need him for long

xo 

m

Eggplant Rollatini? Not a cocktail

Last night I attempted a Giada Recipe

I have found that although she is very easy on the eyes her recipes don't usually taste that great. Which is a bummer because whenever she tastes her own food she really appears to be enjoying it.

We tried

Eggplant Rollatini

My friend Justine, who owns a fabulous restaurant here in

Longmont called the Sugar Beet ,

(they grow all their own food),

brought me a bushel of veggies from their organic garden and I wanted to use up the eggplant first.

I jimmied around with the recipe and instead of making it rollups I did a layered lasagna type thing.  

Here's what you need:

• Sea salt and black pepper
• 1 large eggplant
• 6 no cook lasagna strips
• Can vegetable spray
• 16 oz ricotta
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella
• 8 tablespoons grated Parmesan
• 3 tablespoons toasted pine nuts
• 20 basil leaves, chiffonaded
• Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
• 2 cups fresh tomato sauce,...whatever you have
• 
  
• Preheat oven to 375 
• 
  
• 
• Slice the eggplant and lay on a rack.  Sprinkle sea salt on both sides to pull out the bitterness.  Leave on for about 15 minutes (just long enough to throw in a load of laundry and grab yourself a cocktail)
• Rinse the salt off the eggplant and pat dry with paper towel.
• I cooked my eggplant on the grill, but you could use a grill pan.
• Coat the eggplant with olive or veggie oil. 

  

I really coated mine because it seems to suck up the oil.  Grill on each side for about 4 minutes or until tender.

let cool a bit on a plate while you get the rest ready.

mix in a bowl the ricotta ,2 eggs, salt and pepper,pine nuts and the basil...however much you like.  

Add in some mozzarella and parmesan.

Now, I used some canned sauce (SHHHH, I was in a hurry and no one really cares).

start layering it up like lasagna.  I used a 9x9 square cooking pyrex, seemed to work perfect.

layer anyway you choose....free form baby!

I topped mine with sauce and a bit of bread crumbs.

now throw it in the oven covered with foil for 40 minutes

take foil off and bake for an additional 10 minutes to brown up the top a bit.

let sit,

maybe whip up a salad, have another cocktail and get ready for the kids to complain about eggplant.

Here's the review:

Dad: wouldn't touch, made a steak

Olive 6:  ate around the eggplant said eggplant is mushy

Ilin 13: ate it, kindly said it was pretty good, but definitely didn't have seconds OR request it for lunch tomorrow.

Me:  I'll eat anything.   It wasn't bad...wasn't great, but you have to like eggplant.

360 days of my life #159

From the Smitten Kitchen  New York Cheesecake.

Yeah, mine was a bit brown on the top, ok a lot brown on top...you really have to watch it the first 7 minutes, and that means EVEN if you are drinking margaritas,it's not gonna watch itself!...and maybe the crust was a little thick in the corners...but it was a hit.

Sour Cherry topping from scratch...so easy, the entire thing was easy!!!  Seriously, I really couldn't believe it.  My Ma in law said, "wow, you whipped that up in a minute!"  It was actually 14 minutes it took to mix everything together and that included telling Olive to move 70 times and opening 5 boxes of cream cheese.

You guys should really try it...it was sooooo easy!

a couple of hints:  1. Watch the top on the first 12 minutes at 500 degrees...mine took only 8 minutes to get brown and even though I turned it down it still browned on the top.

2. make sure your cream cheese is room temp when you mix

holy cow, if you are vegetarian

these are Yummalicious!!!!!

and look at the nutrition...
I did eat the entire bag, which is 2 servings, BUT...it's still only 320 cal/4g fat...and take a look at that damn protein!!!
I'm in love...
I put this with a 1/2 C rice, which brought my meal to 420 cal..which is perfect for me.
has anyone else tried this stuff?