Long Weekend & Guacamole

I hope you all are headed for some great Fourth of July fun.

The forecast here in the Southeast is calling for several rainy days ahead (bummer).

I’m headed to the lake with friends with the hope that the sun will overcome some of the gloomy forecast.

But just in case we’ll be armed with books, games and movies.

I’m finishing up this book, and hope to start this later in the week.

I’ve never seen this movie and it is a definate on the weekend viewing list.

Along with this and this.

I’ll also be whipping up a batch of guacamole for the weekend.

I never seem to make it exactly the same way twice, but loosely follow this recipe.

Whatever your weekend plans, stay safe and sound!

 

Favorite Microwave Dinner a la Acorn Squash

Can I introduce you to my favorite quick dinner? It starts with a single acorn squash. I had one sitting around in the fruit basket that needed eating. Every time I have bought them it has been to make these -also delicious. If you have ten minutes and a microwave this is a meal for you.

Wash the acorn squash.

Take a sharp knife and poke through skin all over.

Microwave on high for 5-6 minutes per lb. (I cooked mine for 7 minutes)

Let squash cool in microwave for 1-2 minutes.

Cut squash in half and remove seeds and ‘the other stuff’

Top with butter, chives and s+p OR butter, brown sugar and dried fruit

Eat! (I like to put one half of the squash in a deep bowl and eat it like a grapefruit).

P.S. Acorn Squash is LOADED with vitamins and minerals. An excellent source of Vitamin C and Magnesium.

Winter Harvest

I'm enjoying my last day off from work during the Christmas holiday, and after all the fattening delicious holiday meals, I've been ready to get back to my normal, more healthy eating habits I have been trying hard to follow for the eight months or so.

When Travis and I came back to B'ham, we brought a big sack full of potatoes and sweet potatoes from the garden Travis planted at mom and dad's last summer. He has really gotten into gardening the past couple of years and has been gardening at mom and dad's during the summers while he was still in college. He planted several varieties of potatoes last summer, and we are still working our way through the harvest's bounty this winter. There are SO MANY varieties of potatoes (including purple) that you will never have the opportunity to see and try if you only shop at the grocery store.


It was so cold and windy outside today, that I decided I wanted something warm and hearty for lunch. With a handful of Travis' potatoes I whipped up a batch of Winter Rainbow Gratin from Heidi Swanson's  cookbook Super Natural Cooking. It hit the spot, and is a good step back to healthier ways.

Heart Shaped Potato!

 WINTER RAINBOW GRATIN

3 tablespoons clarified butter or olive oil
4 small purple and/or red potatoes, unpeeled and cut into wedges
4 small shallots
1 large red-fleshed sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1-in chunks
4 young carrots, cut in half lengthwise if thicker than your thumb
4 green onions, trimmed
Fine-grain salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 apple or pear, unpeeled, cored, and cut into 6 wedges
1/2 cup whole-grain bread crumbs
2/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese


Preheat oven to 375 and position rack in the middle of the oven.


Heat the butter in your largest ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. In a single layer, add the potatoes, shallots, sweet potato, carrots, and green onions and toss to coat. Try not to overcrowd the pan, or the vegetables will steam and not brown. If you don't have a big enough pan, split the ingredients between two pans. Saute over medium-high heat for 15 minutes, shaking the pan a couple of times along the way. The vegetables should start to brown a bit and be tender but not mushy.

Remove from the heat and sprinkle with a generous dose of salt and pepper. Stir in the apple wedges. If you don't have an ovenproof skillet, transfer the ingredients to an ovenproof baking dish or casserole. Sprinkle with all the bread crumbs and half of the Parmesan cheese. You don't want to stir at this point; rather, let the crumbs and cheese perch right on top of the vegetables so they'll get nice and crunchy.


Place the uncovered skillet in the oven. Bake for about 40 minutes, tossing the vegetables with a metal spatula about halfway through. The potatoes and carrots should be golden, crispy, and caramelized where they touch the pan and soft and tender inside. When everything is carmelizzed and fragrant, remove from the oven and sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan. Serve straight from the skillet. 


Serves 4 to 6. Enjoy!

Chocolate Gravy & Christmas Morning

There is probably nothing better than being home for Christmas.

Travis and I packed up the car in B'ham and headed home to Mom and Dad's Friday after I got home from work.

Traffic wasn't bad for the weekend of Christmas, and we spent the 4 hour drive trying to meet our yearly quota for Christmas music via Pandora.

I spent Christmas Eve morning meeting up with my bestie, Meg, to catch up over Breakfast at 'the Cracker Barrel'. We had a wonderful time catching up over the last couple of month's happenings in our lives. Meg and I have been friends since church youth group, and very fortunately have that rare type of friendship that seems to weather both the test of time and geographical distance. Meg has learned to crochet in the past year, and gave me a beautiful 'infinity scarf' for Christmas, which was one of my favorite gifts this year.

Christmas Eve dinner was spend at my grandmother's house with the Lynches.

Granny gave my parents some beautiful photos of herself and my grandfather and the original of my dad's high school graduation photo.

With Christmas being on Sunday this year, we ended up making a few minor adjustments to our Christmas morning routine. 

We always have Christmas breakfast with our close friends and neighbors, The Scarletts. Each family hosts every other year, so this year we got up, got ready for church and headed up the road to the Scarlett's for breakfast before church.

Nothing fancy-just delicious!!!

Of course there is always way too many delicious things to eat. We always have Chocolate gravy for breakfast on Christmas morning. Its a Lynch family tradition. Even my grandmother used to make it for my dad. Always delicious...it may be a good thing Christmas comes but once a year.

After breakfast, we headed to church for morning worship. The message was really good, and a true reminder of the reason for the Christmas season- that Christ Jesus left his throne in the glory of heaven to live among us in all our ugly sinfulness in order to draw us back to himself so that we do not have to be eternally separated from Him.

After church, we headed home for the afternoon. We opened our stockings, and gifts we got each other. We took a long walk in the afternoon, and watched a movie together in the evening. We talked about how incredibly blessed we were this year- to have food to eat, a roof over our heads and jobs to wake up for every day. 

Stocking goodies...

The Ben Bear enjoyed laying on the stockings.

Indy 500 tickets for the guy that's is IMPOSSIBLE to buy for.
(I've bought him his favorite blackberry jam for the past 5 yrs. This was a nice change)

Merry Christmas to all- I hope your Christmas was full of love and peace.

PS. Chocolate Gravy recipe coming soon!

Orzo Salad with Pesto and Tomatoes

I mentioned  I spent Monday night whipping up batch after batch of basil pesto- yum! So of course pesto made an appearance on the dinner menu this week. After getting home from the gym last night I through together this super quick and easy Orzo Pasta salad for dinner.

I started by grabbing a container of pesto from the freezer that I made on Monday. I left it sitting on the counter while I headed to the gym. NEVER defrost your pesto in the microwave. It will wilt the basil and cause the oil and parmesan to separate from the basil. Below is the pesto recipe I used.

Basil Pesto

2 cups basil leaves

¼ cup toasted pine nuts

1 clove garlic

½ cup grated Parmesan (use the real stuff)

Scant 2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

½ teaspoon sea salt

½ teaspoon pepper

Toast the pine nuts on a baking sheet at 350 degrees until lightly brown, about 5-6 minutes (make sure you watch them-pine nuts are way too expensive to chare). Add all ingredients and half the olive oil in a food processor. Blend together and then drizzle in the remainder of the olive oil while the food processor is running. Blend until smooth. I usually have to stop and scrap down the sides with a spatula once. Adjust the salt and pepper to your taste. I typically add about ¼ teaspoon more salt.

Now for the Orzo…

Orzo Salad with Pesto and Tomatoes

2/3 cup orzo

1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved

4-5 tablespoons basil pesto

2 cups fresh spinach

2 cups romaine (or lettuce of your choice)

1 cucumber, rough chopped into bit size pieces

Cook the orzo according to the package’s directions. While the orzo to cooking, wash your vegetables and prepare the base for your pasta salad. I made a bowl of salad for dinner and another bowl for lunch the next day. Toss your lettuce and spinach together and then top with the chopped cucumber.

When the orzo finishes, drain the water and then add the pesto and tomato halves to the orzo. Give it a stir, add more pesto as needed and test your salt and pepper. When you are ready add a scoop of the orzo to the top of your salad and voila- instant dinner (plus lunch for tomorrow)!

I think this would also be delicious to either sauté the tomatoes with garlic before adding them into the pasta, or to use sundried tomatoes.