Quinoa, and Brown Rice Dosa

I am very fond of dosa, and since my family likes it and it's healthy, I like to make it often...what better way to get grains in their diet. Dosa make a good breakfast and we also like it for lunch, it is plenty satisfying. Plus I am having fun with wraps and crepes and such...hmmm, maybe I should make a new chapter in my blog hehe!

• 1 cup brown rice
• 1 cup Quinoa
• 1/2 cup urad dal
• 1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds
• handful of cilantro
• sea salt to taste

Wash and soak brown rice and quinoa in different bowls for about 6 to 8 hours, soak fenugreek seed with one of them. Later grind them together into a fine paste. Add some water to dilute it and make into batter of pouring consistency. Add salt as required and mix well. Set aside, add the chopped cilantro right before cooking.  Note: This batter doesn’t require to be fermented. The batter can be used immediately for making dosas after you prepared it.
Heat a non-stick pan. Take a ladleful of batter, drop in the center of the pan and quickly spread into a thin circle. Pour little oil around the dosa and allow cooking. Later flip it over and allow cooking on the other side too. Finally transfer to a serving plate.
Serve it with any chutney of your choice.

I like a dosa that is crispy like this one is.

I have not made any chutney yet, but would like to make a coconut chutney soon. I filled it with potato masala, and this is so filling, and yummy! Greek yogurt makes it a complete treat! It is a plus that my daughter loves it.

Hoppin' Skippin' John

For New Year's Day this year we had some black-eyed peas and greens, it took me a month to post it, man I even missed posting it for Chinese New Year. The problem is I didn't really go by a recipe (yes, I know that's not an excuse, but it's the best I have), but I went by several recipes plus with a little bit of this and a pinch of that...so it made it a little difficult to post. Living in the south the stores here have everything fresh, ready, and available for making black eyed peas and greens. they will evean wash and tear the greens for us in several differnt kinds to choose from. Then they put it on sale at a very good price so you really can go wrong. Eating this on New Year's day is believed to bring good fortune. I bought some fresh shelled black eyed peas and kale instead of turnip, or collard greens...just because I know my family will eat kale and enjoy it.

Never working with fresh black-eyed peas before I went by what it said on the package. So I boiled them for the amount of time on the package...if you were using dried you would want to soak them over night, and drain, then cook them is fresh water for twenty minutes or until tender..

I used and adapted from the recipe on the package and the Hoppin' Skippin' John recipe from Graham Kerr's Best cookbook.

ingredients:

1 pounds black-eyed peas (fresh or frozen)
or 1 cup dried
1 small onion,or large shallot (I used) finely chopped
1 celery rib, finely chopped
2 garlic clove, minced
2 bay leaves
4 whole cloves freshly ground
1 tablespoon loosely packed thyme leaves
1/2 teaspoon dried savory
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper or Red pepper flakes to taste
freshly ground sea salt and black pepper to taste
3 cups water or broth
2 cups torn greens (collard or kale or what eve you like) washed and stems removed

Hot cooked rice

In a large deep skillet or Dutch oven or stew pot, heat 1 tablespoon oil over moderate heat and cook shallot until soft about 3 minutes. Add celery, thyme, bay leaves, ground clove and garlic cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add the peas, salt and pepper, red pepper flakes, and water, bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer till the peas are tender but not mushy, about 45 minutes to 1 hour. Add the greens and cook for about 5 minutes add more water if needed.Remove the bay leaves and squeeze a little lemon juice and you can add fresh parsley to top it off. Serve over rice.



I didn't use ham in my Hoppin' John, but I didn't make a pork roast to serve with it. Pork is also eaten on New Year's day. I seasoned it with a blend that I picked up at the German store. Cooked it until it reached 160 degrees. I still have to cook my pork all the way through, I know you can go less nowadays, but I just can't do it. Since this was such a lean pork loin roast I watched it carefully not to over cook it and have it dry out.

Of course this could be eaten anytime of year...and I always love the pan drippings over the moist meat, so full of flavor, better than any gravy!

Such a lazy day after dinner. Our neighbor's cat has adopted us (I think that's what cats do choose where they want to hang out) he will come in and make himself at home now instead of a quick walk through visit. He knows now that Tucker is so old he doesn't have to worry...

...he can walk right by him and not wake Tucker up. He is such a sound sleeper now that he can't hear much any more...it sucks getting old.

Aww...he must of fallen asleep on the futon in the bonus room after he unloaded the groceries and read the sports page...hehe

Neggie must of been going through some cookbooks on the couch in the living room before it wore him out...I wonder what recipes he is dreaming of? I hope he wrote them down...oh...to have such a rough animal's life

A Great Start - Steel Cut Oats

I hope everyone had a great holiday with plenty of good food, fun and family! This morning we had a hearty cereal of steel cut oats. I've made them before the over night method, but this worked just as well.

I have a health food store within walking distance from my house so it is easy for me to pick up any grains, flour, rice, etc... they sell many in bulk as well as herbs and spices. So if I need a cup of special flour or a table spoon of a spice I haven't tried before, I can buy just that and try it. So I picked up a couple cups of steel cut oats...

Melt 2 tablespoons of butter over medium heat, add 1 cup steel cut oats and toast for about 2-3 minutes.

Add 3 cups boiling water, stir and reduce to a simmer, gently simmer for 25-30 minutes, stir occasionally.

Stir in 1 cup milk (I didn't have milk so I used coconut milk) and cook for 10 minutes until the milk is almost absorbed stirring 1 or 2 times.

Remove from heat and let stand for 2 minutes.

It will keep up to 3 days in refrigerator.

My daughter had a friend over so I let them decide what they wanted on their oatmeal. My daughter like cinnamon and brown sugar. Her friend had coconut milk and honey. I had cardamom, dried Michigan cherries, coconut, coconut milk, sunflower seeds. You can enjoy it with any fruit, nuts, berries, or sweetener...that's the fun of making it your way!


Just a few recent photos to share from my two weeks off... my husband called me outside to see if I could get a photo ot the snail moseying along the cactus...


..close up! It's pretty cool!



We joined some friends at their house for Christmas dinner...


I brought this pork roast...
Gary made a beef roast and potatoes. ..


...they are from South Africa so they don't have family in town at Christmas either.


Maranda, playing with some toys that we get in the Christmas crackers...and that is sparkling cider she's drinking.


Some other goodies that were in the crackers...the kids at school will love them!

Another friend Sarah joined us and she brought her dog too. So we had four dog with us at Christmas...we couldn't leave them home...well 2 belong here and we brought Tucker, and Sarah brought Sadie the Lab was welcome too. They all got along fine and were so well behaved. Jeanne did a good job getting them all together for the photo...with treats in hand!

This time of year my lemons are in full swing...good thing, I used it all week for my ginger, tea with lemon and honey.

I used my new Tervis Tumbler (made right here near us in Florida) I got it for Christmas from my aunt and uncle. It's perfect for keeping drinks warm or cold.

.., another sunset walk on the beach, (ha! caught them off guard). it was a really nice evening...this was Monday the day after Christmas. We've been having perfect weather lately.

The sunset wasn't that spectacular, but we saw some dolphins as soon as we got there. They are so hard for me to catch a good photo of , but they are always so cool to see, I never get tired of it!

Hope you all had a wonderful week! Looking forward to the New Year to come, and visiting you all.
Back to school (work) tomorrow, and here I thought I'd get more done than I did. Will post more soon!

Black Bean and Sweet Potato Burgers

Another meatless meal, not that we are trying to cut down on eating meat, we just enjoy many vegetarian meals. I try to incorporate many grains and veggies in our meals....even if I have to sneak it in there. We didn't eat these as burgers, but you could. Actually I couldn't find my can of organic black beans so I used pinto beans instead. I asked my daughter if she wanted me to make it with garbanzo beans or pinto beans an she chose garbanzo so I used pinto...haha just kidding. She wanted the pinto beans, but I think they were a little too soft for this recipe. They were good and full of flavor, they just might not work on a bun like the black bean patties would. I used Japanese sweet potato which is white flesh and slightly dry, but plenty sweet in my opinion.


Black Bean Patties

ingredients:
1/2 onion (I used shallots) chopped
3 cloves garlic chopped
3 shiitake fresh mushrooms chopped (or baby bella)
1 handful fresh basil or cilantro
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon savory
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon sriracha, or any hot sauce to your liking
1 can of black beans (I used pinto)
1/2 sweet potato diced and cooked (boiled)
3 tablespoons ricotta cheese (optional...I had some I wanted to use)
1/2 green chili (I used serrono chili)
1/2 cup panko bead crumbs (or cooked quinoa and oats)
1 egg slightly beaten
salt and pepper to taste

First saute onions mushrooms and garlic, in some olive oil. I used a food processor to make these, but I think it would work just as well...maybe even better if you just mash the potatoes and beans instead of pulsing in the processor.

I pulsed the onion, mushroom, garlic mix with the basil or cilantro, then added the beans...pulse a few times, then the potatoes and ricotta, pulse some more. Try not to over process...you can even leave some beans out if you'd like some left whole.

In a bowl whisk the egg, then mix in the remaining ingredients. Mix it all together and form into patties. If it seems too moist add some more crumbs until it holds together nicely.

Cook 6-7 minutes per side or you could bake them at 375 degree F oven for about 25 minutes until golden or browned the way you like it.
What I like about these is you can add so many different ingredients to adjust them for your family. Like you could add corn, bulgar or other grains, more hot spice or less, flax, sesame or other seeds...a little dijon or curry paste?
I like them a little moist, but then I don't eat them on a bun either...

..but they were good with some chipotle powder mixed with Greek yogurt. My daughter (the sour cream eater) said I really liked this sauce on these! My husband got home late and when I told him what I had made for dinner...he wasn't so sure about them, but he ate his fair share! Next time I will leave a little more texture in there and not use a food processor.

My husband finally brought the tall ladder home...so tall it's a little scary...

..so I could pick some mangoes, all the ones that were lower are already picked. The problem with this variety of mango is they don't change color when they are ripe, you pretty much have to squeeze to tell. Otherwise they sit in a bowl for a few days. Just when I was ready to make the climb...a storm rolled in with thunder....just where I wanted to be when the lightning came.
Funny these both were from that tree, I have quite a few large mangoes and many smaller ones too. I wonder why?

I have to figure out something to make with the mangoes...I usually just eat them! I'm not big on eating fruit with meat, but any ideas what I can do with all these mangoes?...and yes I've given many away and the squirrels are still eating too!

This is linked to My Sweet and Savory Meatless Mondays

Chewy Granola Bars - Make them your way!

Granola bars are an easy snack and my husband likes to grab one for his drive to work in the morning. It is easy enough to pick up some pre-made granola bars of many flavors and finishes. The nice thing about making your own is...again like I said on making your own granola you can control what goes into them. I use as much organic products as I can...organic sugar, raw local organic sugar, my own homemade vanilla, the oats and spices are as well. I actually like my grandma's granola over any store bought and have not purchased pre-made granola in quite some time now.



As for granola bars I like them chewy rather than hard and crunchy, but I like to toast the ingredients first...

...and that is the only time they will be in the oven. Toast in a med hot oven around 325 degrees F until lightly golden be careful not to burn it. The nuts were done separately...just because it worked better that way.

This is the first recipe that I tried:

adapted from - Joyful Abode

•2 cups oats
•3/4 cup wheat germ
•3/4 cup sunflower seeds
•1/4 cup sliced almonds
•1 cup puffed rice
•2/3 cup brown sugar
•1/2 cup honey
•4 tablespoons butter
•1 teaspoon vanilla extract
•1/2 teaspoon sea salt
•4 oz dried cranberries

Toast the dry ingredients except sugar and dried fruit. After toasted place in a large bowl, add the dried fruit. I didn't add too much fruit because my daughter doesn't like most dried fruits...so I really skimped on it in this batch.

In a sauce pan heat the butter, sugar, and brown sugar and bring to a simmer...and the brown sugar is dissolved...

Be sure to stir constantly...



...you don't want to get it too thick...you want nice chewy bars.

Meanwhile, prepare a glass baking dish for your granola by lining it with waxed paper lightly sprayed with a nonstick spray. I used a 9x9 and the bars were a little thicker, use the size that will make the bars the size you want.

Mix everything really well... add the fruit at this time, this is what holds the bars together.

Press the mix into the prepared pan




Fold the wax paper over the top and keep pressing...push down good, they held together really good. Let the bars cool before cutting them.

I let them rest all night because I made them late at night, and that was a mistake. The paper stuck some to the bottom and I had to painstakingly peel it off. These came out pretty large.

I wrapped them individually so he could take them with him. They turned out pretty good, but they were too sweet for me. It was good to make them without the high fructose corn syrup, and were pretty much all organic though.

I made another batch and changed it up bit so it wouldn't be as sweet for me... and they were chai spice flavored!!

I added some:

Michigan dried cherries
coconut
pumpkin seeds
sesame seeds
chopped almonds along with the sunflower seeds
chai spice
I used barely a half cup brown sugar (didn't pack it) used less butter and add a little coconut oil to make up for it you could use canola or any oil you like.

I will add the chai spice mix recipe on an up and coming post soon!

It didn't hold together quite as well as the first ones, but I liked it a lot better!!

all you have to do is just be careful when you cut them...

What would you add to granola bars? Chocolate?

This has been add to:

Sweet as Sugar Cookies'
Sweets for a Saturday link-up!

Bizzy B. Bakes, Bake with Bizzy

Over the Fourth of July weekend we went out to a friends house that had a new born horse or I should say colt...

...she was just 4 days old, and full of personality...a real spite-fire!


her mane was unbelievably soft, and she was so curious about everything! So cute!

We have had some beautiful sunsets with the afternoon clouds that come in.

...it make for a very pleasant evening, with a nice cool breeze...

...and no hot dogs for us thank you very much (not a hot dog fan here)...we had the best pork BBQ on a hot dog bun! Yum!