Yogurt!

I've been having another adventure in foods that are easier to make than one would think!

This round: yogurt.

Yogurt is great. It's fermented, so you know there are lots of good bacteria ready to help you digest your food; it's got lots of protein, which is great for vegetarians; it has lots of calcium to keep your legs from breaking when you fall through the deck.

One downside: It's expensive! Seriously, sustainable yogurt is not sustainable for my wallet. It was always a special treat.

No longer! Milk is way cheaper than yogurt! Turn milk into yogurt in a very simple way!

You will need: 1 quart of milk; 1 t yogurt (yeah, it seems silly to need yogurt to start yogurt, but you won't need to buy yogurt again!); 1 pot with a lid; thermometer so you cook the milk to the right temp; towel or oven.

1 - Heat the milk in the pot to 180 degrees. It takes a while but keep an eye on it.
2 - Once the milk is at 180, turn the heat off, or remove from heat until it reaches 120 degrees. While that's cooling, also bring your dollop of yogurt to room temperature. If you're using an oven, heat to the lowest setting for a couple minutes to take the cold out of it.
3 - Once your milk is 180, mix in the yogurt.
4 - Cover your mixture, and wrap it well in the towel and tuck in in a corner, or stick it in the barely warmed oven. Leave the light on in the oven to keep it a little warmer.
5 - Go to work/bed/do something for 8-12 hours. Let the bacteria have a party and ferment in the milk. This is good for you. Keep it in there longer for a tangier taste. I kept mine in there 9 hours and it didn't really have a taste at all.
6 - Stick it in the fridge for at least 4 hours to set it.
7 - You can eat it now. It'll be a little runny, so you have the option to strain it. Put a cheesecloth in a fine mesh strainer over a bowl, and drain it for half an hour, or up to 6 hours in the fridge for Greek yogurt. Or even longer for yogurt cheese.

Just save the whey for something. If I have whey, I use it for mixing in protein shakes or something. If you're into fermenting, apparently it's great stuff for other fermenting uses. It's good for chickens. Or cooking. I'm sure if you're trying to make your own yogurt, you will find a magical way to use the whey if you want, too.

See? Easy!

Sorry! Have some lasagna!

I haven't been cooking as much lately. I mean, I have been but it's been not-so-exciting stuff, like chili, wild rice soup, etc. Variations on a theme (aka stuff I've made before or should be common knowledge or is ridiculously easy to make and doesn't deserve a whole blog post).

I did make lasagna a couple times, including tonight, and forgot to post about it, though!

What's so special about this lasagna? It's really low-carb. "But how can you have low-carb lasagna?" you ask?

Zucchini!

Instead of noodles, slice the zucchini lengthwise. I had 6 smallish zucchini and had about half of one left over, but this is the season for bigass zucchini! People look at them and think "How the heck am I going to eat that much zucchini???" This is the dish for those bigass zucchini. They make perfectly lasagna-sized notnoodles. My smallish zucchini were ok, but it's easier with larger ones.

Today, I made alfredo zucchini. I've been on a full-fat kick, so the alfredo sauce has whole milk, the ricotta was made with whole milk, etc. I am just experimenting with healthy fats. Let's see if I get fat! Or heart disease! So far, I don't feel any different, and I don't notice any major difference in the taste. Whole milk smells better warmed up, I guess. Still tastes gross plain as skim milk, so I'll stick with soy for drinking.

Anywho, I used a green pepper, 6 roma tomatoes, 4 medium-sized carrots, 4 scallions, 1 cup fresh parsley, 1/2 c grated parmesan, 1/2 c shredded parmesan, 2 cups ricotta cheese, some italian-style vegan sausages, and some alfredo sauce mix reconstituted with whole milk and more parmesan. And the zucchini.

My first layer was the carrots, green pepper, 2 scallions and grated parmesan. My second layer was the ricotta cheese with the vegan sausages. My third layer was the other onions, tomatoes and parsley along with some of the shredded parmesan.

Splash a layer of alfredo on the bottom, the one layer of zucchini, then the carrot mix. Cover that with a layer of zucchini, followed by a splash of alfredo, then the ricotta/sausage mix. Zucchini, tomato mix, alfredo, zucchini, alfredo, and top with the rest of the parmesan.

Bake for 45 minutes at 350F. You could cover it with tinfoil for the first 30 minutes, but the zucchini lets out water instead of absorbing it like lasagna noodles, so it'll be a lot wetter than usual so I prefer to keep it uncovered. One could also add dry TVP to the bottom layer to help soak up the juice.

The nice thing about lasagna is that it's really flexible. You can use whatever sauce, veggies, proteins, cheeses, etc. My mom told me to use lots and lots of cheese, but I prefer to go a bit lighter on the cheese and heavier on the veggies. Some people use really meaty marinara sauce, but some people also use a light primavera-type sauce. Choose what you like and what your body needs.

Enjoy!

This recipe needs a name

Today, I made a recipe inspired by a facebook friend's pinterest post. I don't have a pinterest myself, but she posted one of hers on facebook and it looked delicious! Maybe I should expand my social networks. I'll have to get on pinterest, and tumblr, and vine.... Heck, maybe I'll even start Tweeting!

Just kidding. I feel young enough just having an instagram. And I haven't taken any videos on it yet, so maybe vine isn't for me.

Anyway, it is an egg baked in an avocado.

credit to foodbeast.com

I couldn't wait long enough to take any pictures, but mine actually turned out very similar to that. And man, oh man, is it tasty! Probably all the fat. It does have a lot of fat, but it's really healthy Omega-3 fat.

Ingredients:

1 avocado

2 eggs

A couple pinches of shredded cheese

Spices of your choice - I used paprika, cayenne, and garlic salt.

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400F.

1 - slice the avocado in half the tall way (is there any other way to cut it? It feels wrong to do it the short way)

2 - Remove the stone

3 - Using a spoon, scoop out the whole so it's bigger. Lick the spoon because you should not waste a taste of avocado.

4 - Prop the avocado halves up somehow. I made little tinfoil nests, but just make sure they won't tip over. 

5 - With the first egg, separate the yolk from the white. Put the yolk in the hole first, the pour the white over it. If it spills, don't worry too much. You can scrape it off the pan and put it back on when it's cooked. Repeat with the second egg and the other half.

6 - Cheese and season the avocados.

7 - Bake for 20 minutes until the egg whites are set. The yolk will still be runny, so be sure to have some bread nearby to enjoy the yolk with.

Sounds a little weird with warm avocado and everything, but you will enjoy it! I was scraping the shell with my spoon to make sure I didn't miss any.

A BLT, sort of.

I made a yummy sandwich today. It's sort of a blt. Only I used facon instead of bacon (morningstar brand). And spinach instead of lettuce. And I served it on pumpernickel with a soft goat cheese spread and asparagus spears roasted in garlic and sesame. There was a tomato, at least.

Is it a FACTS sandwich instead? Facon, Asparagus, Cheese, Tomato, Spinach.

Chocolate Beet Cake

I just finished eating this delightful concoction. It's healthy (as far as cake goes), and it's very tasty!

Next time I make it, I'll probably use butter instead of canola oil, but other than that the cake was moist enough, and sweet enough. It would probably taste better with real sugar, but the splenda makes the sweetness less intense.

Ingredients:

1 1/4 c flour

1 1/2 t baking soda

1/4 t salt

1/2 c cocoa powder

2 scoops chocolate protein powder

1 c canola oil/butter

1 c splenda

4 eggs

1 t almond extract

1/2 c milk

2 c beet puree (I needed beet juice for something unrelated, and didn't want to waste the pulp)

1/4 c walnuts, chopped

1/4 c chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 F.

In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, salt, cocoa powder and protein powder.

In a large bowl, mix splenda and oil. Add eggs, extract, milk and beets. Mix well.

Stir the dry ingredients into the wet bowl.

Spread into a 13x9 pan, and sprinkle walnuts and chocolate chips evenly.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, until a knife or toothpick is clean after poking the cake.

While that cools, you can also make a nice cream cheese frosting to go with it. I didn't have powdered sugar, so I just mixed 8 oz of cream cheese with a cup of splenda, with a little oil, chocolate syrup and almond extract. Unconventional, but still tasty!

Creamy Asparagus Soup

Yum yum yum! I think it might be time to stop buying asparagus. The quality is going down and the price is going up, but it's so delicious! I'll have to find a new vegetable to base all of my recipes on. :(

Until I do, here is a recipe for Creamy Asparagus Soup. Delicious!

Serves 8

Ingredients:
2 lbs asparagus
Touch of oil/butter
2 leeks, chopped
1/2 c chopped green onions
4 cloves garlic, minced
5 carrots
2 1/2 c chickpeas (2 small cans, or 1 large, drained and rinsed)
6 c veggie stock
1 pint heavy cream
1 cup parmesean cheese, grated

Directions:
~Saute the leeks, onions, garlic and carrots in the oil in a large kettle/stock pot.
~Remove the really woody parts of the asparagus and discard. Reserve the really pretty tasty ends. Throw the middle parts into the pot and saute a while.
~Note: If you're making this soup to look nice for other people, blanch the pretty tips of the asparagus (bring a small pot of water to a boil, throw them in for just a couple moments until they turn really pretty bright green, then strain them out and rinse them in cold water). If you're making it just to eat it by your fine self or low standards family, stick them in at the end just before serving. They'll cook just fine in the soup itself, too.
~Add the chickpeas and veggie stock. Bring to a boil, and cook until the asparagus and carrots are nice and soft.
~Then, take out your magical immersion blender and have at it until there is nothing but soupy, green, icky-looking mush. (If you don't have an immersion blender, go get one. Seriously. In the meantime, let it cool down, the put a small batch in your blender and do it bit by bit while making a million more dishes to clean than necessary.)
~Reduce the heat. Put in most of the cheese, but save some for a garnish if you're playing to impress. Even if you're not, it adds a little something to have a cheesy top to this soup. Stir in to make sure it's all melted.
~Stir in the cream, and make sure it's evenly heated through. Doesn't that make it look prettier?
~This is a good time to add in some seasoning. I threw in some garlic salt, black pepper and dried parsley.
~If you didn't blanch your asparagus tops, toss those in now and let them heat up for a couple minutes. If you did, you may serve it up into fancy bowls, sprinkle on the cheese and add a couple spears to the soup. Pretty as all get out!
~Enjoy!

Update: I take back what I said about the asparagus. The farmers market just posted on facebook about all the asparagus that's about to come in. Yay!

I didn't even instragram this one! Or blanch the tips.

Nutritional info (minus the seasoning)

Calories - 375 per serving if 8 servings.

Fat - 25g

Saturated Fat - 16g

Cholesterol - 91mg

Sodium - 391mg

Potassium - 324mg

Carbs - 22g

Fiber - 6g

Sugar - 5g

Protein - 12g

Vitamin A -110%

Vitamin C - 23%

Calcium - 21%

Iron - 15%

Pastorta! or Southwest Shepherds Pie

Shepherds pie translates to pastor torta, according to google, but that is too dang long to say. Pastorta is my calogical way to say it. 

It is so yummy!

It's really filling, but not bloating. It's really nutritious, but also with enough carbs and fat to make anyone feel like they just ate something way to unhealthy.

Makes 2 13x9 pans, which I cut into 12 servings total. You could easily make smaller portions of this.

Ingredients:

1 box of organic cornmeal muffin mix (12 servings) and whatever you need to prepare the mix, probably a little oil and eggs.

1 mango

1 avocado

1 large can or 2 regular cans of beans (I like black beans)

1 can of refried beans

1 cup TVP dry, then rehydrated

2 green peppers

2 jalapenos

1 onion

4 large carrots

4 cloves garlic

1 jar hot salsa

1 packet of taco seasoning

1 can sweet corn

5-10 tomatoes

12 oz cheddar cheese

Directions

Preheat oven to 350.

Dice the peppers, jalapenos, garlic, onions and carrots. Saute in a little oil over medium heat.

Add TVP and beans (not the refried), then stir in taco seasoning. Feel free to add more spices. Mine turned out a little on the bland side, despite the "super hot" salsa, jalapenos and "spicy" taco seasoning. Once it's all thoroughly cooked and the spices stirred in well, turn off heat.

In another bowl, mash avocado, refried beans, salsa, corn, tomatoes and mango. It's going to look gross. That's ok. Just roll with it.

In another dish, prepare the cornmeal batter.

Now to put it all together. I first put down a base layer of the cooked veggies/TVP/beans, spreading to the corners. I put the salsa goop over that. Then I spread the cornmeal mixture over the top.

Now, with the cheese, you can do what sounds best to you. I was far too lazy to get out the grater or food processor to grate the cheese, so I cut it into 1 oz rectangles, and stuck it in the middle of each future piece of torta. They spread out and melted very attractively, in my opinion, but I also ate a couple huge bites of warm gooey cheese with very little cornbread. As I love cheese so hard, it was ok with me, but you may want to grate it and integrate it into the dish a little more. 

Stick it in the oven for at least 30 minutes. Take it out, all nice and bubbling. Let it sit for a few minutes to cool off and set nicely. 

Enjoy! Delicioso! 

Just to clarify, this is by no means Mexican. Let's say it's Southwest inspired. Mexicatey, if you will. My own uneducated twist on Mexican food. Which I will never be able to cook, because I am more Chipotle than mom-and-pop burrito shop. I guess I'm just too intimidated.