Lots of recipes coming....

Hi loves! I promise very soon I will have lots of cool recipes. I have been really busy lately but everything is back on track now. I made lots of yummy things and took lots of pics so they will be up soon.

Something to think about.....

Mardi Gras

Hi loves, sorry it has been a while. Got a little sick and then after I started to work out harder and everyday with no breaks. But I get to make lots of yummy meals and desserts and I even took pics. My camera broke and I have not gotten the chance to buy a new one so for now please bear with my fuzzy iPhone pics.

So, let's see after V-Day there was Fat Tuesday. How did you celebrate? I wanted to be festive so I searched for some good New Orleans dishes. I learned a lot about Creole and Cajun cooking which was really interesting because I never had or knew anything about it. So I picked two recipes that were inexpensive and made my own Cajun spice mix.

 





Cajun baked catfish and creole red beans and rice great with some rye whisky on the rocks and listened to jazz and rock all night. This whole meal (except for the alcohol of course) was clean and no store brought seasoning was used. This was the first time I made beans like this, I mean cooking them with celery, onions and onions. It was delicious and different. I loved the catfish it was baked but tasted like it was deep fried. So crispy on the outside and the fish was not dried out. The cornmeal mix had cayenne, black pepper, sea salt and cajun seasoning. It was so good and really good with some Frank's hot sauce! It was super easy and not expensive, Catfish is pretty cheap.

HOT Valentine's Dinner.

Hope everyone had a great Vday! We had lots of snow and lots of fun. I made a special meal it from all the leftovers from Thursday night's snow storm pizza party. My version of sausage and peppers with multi grain spaghetti, hot cherry peppers and sauce. The cheat for Vday was sausage. I haven't had sausages in a very long time but I checked the ingredients and I did not fry them. I baked them on a broiler pan so the fat could drip into the pan. I made my usual bread - soda bread using whey from my yogurt making - that whey really makes the bread so crispy on the outside and moist inside. Really makes a difference. Had some red wine and chocolate truffles for dessert. All this food was filling but I did not feel gross and lazy after because it was all clean, healthy food. I weighed myself the next morning and I had actually lost 2 pounds.

This meal was really good and kind of hot, a great meal for Valentine's Day. Since the meat and veggie were going to be hot I toned down the sauce a little. When mixed together, it was prefect.

Hot Sausage and Peppers
one large green pepper, thin slices
one large onion, thin slices
half a bunch of spinach
4 sausages
2 hot cherry peppers, sliced

one 28oz can crushed tomatoes
1/2 c fresh basil
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 c of onion, chopped
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
sea salt and black pepper to taste
6 oz of Barilla multi grain thin spaghetti

SAUSAGES: Pre heat oven 450 degrees. Put the sausages on a broiler pan so the fat can drip into the pan underneath (put foil on the lower pan for easy clean up). Put sausages in the oven and bake for 30 mins checking and flipping every 10 mins. Once they are done, take them out and set them aside on a plate to cool. Then cut into slices. SAUCE: heat oil in a pot, add garlic, stir, then add onion. Pour in the crushed tomatoes once the onions become translucent. Stir. Add the rest of the ingredients. Simmer. Lower heat and cover. SAUSAGE AND PEPPERS: In a large sauce pan, heat some oil. Add peppers and onions and let them cook. Add a little water in the pan if it gets dry. Stir and watch. Cook veggies until tender. Add the sausage, spinach and hot cherry peppers. Stir and let cook for a few more minutes. PASTA: Boil the water for the pasta. Cook for 7 mins. Strain and place in a bowl and toss some sauce in. SERVE: Put pasta on the plate with extra sauce on top. Sausage and peppers on the side. Enjoy! Click here for the bread recipe. Click here for truffle recipe. These truffles were coconut, peanut butter, and chocolate.

 

24 oz of Greek Yogurt for 0.63? NO FREAKIN WAY!!!!

I told you guys how much I love Greek yogurt and all the cool uses for it, right? It gets so expensive, $4.20 for a 32oz container at Sam's Club twice a month can add up, so I was very excited to find out that I could make my own and I didn't need a fancy gadgets. And the results were - I could make this no problem. So I bought a gallon of milk this time (you can freeze a little of your yogurt to use as a starter). A gallon of milk from Aldi's is 1.99, there are 16 cups in a gallon (0.125/cup) and I used 5 cups of milk and got 24 oz of yogurt that costed .63! That's not bad - 32oz for $4.20 Vs 24oz for 0.63!!! And, I took one of the ideas from the web site I posted about what to do with the extra whey from making yogurt, using it in place of buttermilk in recipes and I made the most delicious soda bread ever. Sooooo crispy on the outside and moist on the inside. So it's a win-win! I really hope you guys try making your own Greek yogurt, I'm telling once you taste it you will never want store bought again. Enjoy!

Our morning hikes

Making Granola