Hummus

2 cans of chickpeas
half of a lemon
about 3 tablespoons of olive oil
generous amount of garlic salt
red pepper ( to your tasting)
Rosemary
1/2 tsp. of Tahini

Mix in a blender until smooth.

Let cool for a good hour or more.

Serve with pita, Triscuts or carrots.

Spring?

I hope is around the corner. The birds have come back and hopefully with them will come nice weather. There is still a bit of winter in the air as you can see by the snow flakes and the bluebird wondering if he made it to his desired destination or went waywardly in the wrong direction.

Chronic Bell Peppers

The other day, Pete was wanting me to use some of his ground beef that needed to be eaten before it went bad.


I didn't want the staple ground beef dinner ie: hamburgers, tacos, or chili.... I wanted to make something a bit more exciting.

City Market had green bell peppers for $.69 each so I had a few sitting on my counter and thought that I would try my hand at stuffed bell peppers since I have never made them before.

These are very easy to make and the results are quite YUMMY. Or in the words of Pete Giannini, CHRONIC.

So, if you have some ground beef laying around and want an alternative to the norms then this is a good recipe to try.

Ingredients

• 4 green or red bell peppers
• Salt
• 5 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 medium yellow onion, peeled and chopped
• 1 clove of garlic, peeled and chopped
• 1 lb of lean ground beef
• 1 1/2 cup of cooked rice
  
• 1 cup chopped tomatoes, fresh or canned
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh oregano or 1 tsp of dried oregano
• Fresh ground pepper
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 1/2 tsp of Worcestershire Sauce
• Dash of Cholula sauce

Method

1 Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Meanwhile, cut top off peppers 1 inch from the stem end, and remove seeds. Add several generous pinches of salt to boiling water, then add peppers and boil, using a spoon to keep peppers completely submerged, until brilliant green (or red if red peppers) and their flesh slightly softened, about 3 minutes. Drain, set aside to cool.

2 Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Heat 4 tbsp of the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and garlic, and cook, stirring often, until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Remove skillet from heat, add meat, rice, tomatoes, and oregano, and season generously with salt and pepper. Mix well.

3 Drizzle remaining 1 tbsp. Oil inside peppers, arrange cut side up in a baking dish, then stuff peppers with filling. Combine ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, Cholula sauce, and 1/4 cup of water in a small bowl, then spoon over filling. Add 1/4 cup of water to the baking dish. Place in oven and bake for 40-50 minutes .

You can always add the tops back on for a more finished look. I also added Parmesan cheese to the top as well.

Cottage Cheese

I am on a cottage cheese kick. I find nothing more refreshing or satisfying as some cottage cheese with a Cutie ( clementine) and some strawberries.

The other day, as I was nibbling away my bowl of cottage cheese and fruit, I took a look at the ingredients thinking I was doing my body good... only to be appalled at what I saw...

So I got to thinking about making my own cottage cheese. Little did I know, it's easy to do, fast, and the results are delicious.

I must point out that for as much milk as you use it doesn't make a lot of cottage cheese, so price wise, I don't think you save money but knowing that you are putting milk in your body and not all those other chemicals and things you can't even pronounce is worth it to me!

Plus, it tastes so good. :)

Ingredients

• 1 gallon ( I used skim) milk
• To make this more thrifty buy some old milk that is on sale
  
• 1/2 cup of white vinegar
• a dash of salt
  

Directions

1. Heat the milk and take off the heat just before the milk begins to boil.
   

2. Add the vinegar and allow the mixture to cool.
   
   
   

3. Drain mixture. * The recipe called for a cheesecloth, which I didn't have, so I used a coffee filter and laid that over the colander and then poured the mixture over the filter and rinsed the curds off with cold water.
   
   
   

4. Add salt and mix with your hands. You may wish to use less salt or more, depending on your taste. I like mine salty!
   

5. You can also add a little cream for a more silky texture but I didn't as I am on a diet.
   

I am going to try mozzarella next.

So sad to say goodbye

I just learned that Danny passed away due to a blood clot that lead to a stroke. Danny was such a special guy. He always made me feel so comfortable and welcome and always put a smile on my face. I don't understand why events and things happen the way that they do but I wish that he didn't have to leave so soon. We will miss you, Danny Boy. xoxox, e

Homemade Bread warms the heart and fills the belly!

From Mar 24, 2009

One of the things I love is homemade bread especially when it's hot right out of the oven.

It takes me back to when I was a little girl and my mom would bake her own bread. Now that I am a woman, I find many similarities between my mother and I ( some that I love, others that I wish I didn't posses) .

Growing up in Switzerland, one of my favorite breads was Tresse. The Swiss bread is braided and eaten with some butter and a cinnamon and sugar mixture doused on top. It is simply divine!

I wanted a salty bread to go with my Italian soup so I instead of sugar, I put rosemary and garlic.

Here is the recipe... bon appetit !

Tresse

In a large bowl, dissolve 1 package yeast ( which is 1 TB) with 1 TB sugar in a cup of HOT water.
* water needs to be hot from the tab, do not microwave to heat the water*

Let the yeast dissolve until bubbly.

Add a few TB of olive oil, 1 tsp of salt, an egg yolk ( save the white!) and stir. Slowly add flour until you cannot stir the mixture easily. Take dough out and begin to kneed. Kneed dough with more flour until it is no longer sticky. Dough should be soft and smooth. Put the dough back in the bowl and let it rise ( for about 1 hr) once it has risen, punch it down, and let it rise again.

Pull dough into 3 sections and roll out into long ropes. Begin braiding. Once the bread has been braided put on a greased baking sheet and cover with an egg white ( this gives it the golden look) sprinkle with whatever type of seasoning you like. I used fresh garlic and rosemary. If you want to eat it as the original Tresse, do not garnish with seasoning. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for about 30-45 minutes. You can tell when the bread is cooked by tapping the bottom of the bread. It should sound hollow.

From Mar 24, 2009

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