There's something awesome about double chocolate cookies.

So, as I have said before, the mister and me are doing a nutrition challenge. We are on day 14 right now. One big thing I'm missing is beer, but also I have had a craving for something sweet. Since we are avoiding sugar, even a teeny bit of honey (I'm talking a droplet) is enough.  It's amazing how the palate will change when you eliminate something from it. 

Yesterday evening, I decided to indulge that sweet craving and make some double chocolate chip cookies.  

• 1 and 1/2 cups almond flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• scant 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup Hershey's Special Dark unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon

• 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
• 1/8 c. buckwheat honey (you can use regular honey)
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 3/4 cups dark chocolate chips - I used "Enjoy Life Mega Chunks"

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a medium sized mixing bowl combine dry ingredients.
3. In a small mixing bowl beat egg, honey, and vanilla extract with a hand mixer.
4. Pour wet ingredients into dry and beat with hand mixer until combined.
5. Melt coconut oil, pour into batter, and continue to blend until combined.
6. The mega chunks are a little too big, so I suggest chopping them first.  Stir in chocolate chunks.
7. On a parchment lined cookie sheet, create balls of cookie dough, about a tablespoon in size. Give them a little thumb print because they won't spread out like normal cookies.
8. Bake for 10-12 minutes.

They were incredible with some almond milk.  Enjoy!!

Lamb meatballs with Moroccan-inspired stew

I am lucky to have regular access to Philadelphia's renowned Reading Terminal Market.  A new booth opened up over the summer--Border Springs Farm--and it specializes in pasture-raised lamb. They have both prepared foods and items from the butcher. I opted for a pound of ground lamb to take home and create something.  Other than making the occasional lamb burger, I rarely cook with lamb.  The good news is that it cooks at the same rate as ground beef.

The mister and I are participating in a 30 day nutrition challenge.  I'm avoiding gluten and sugar; he's doing the same, and he's also avoiding dairy. The focus of this challenge is to build a diet mostly of leafy greens and veggies (limited starches) and proteins.  

So, I scoured my many cookbooks looking for a ground lamb recipe. There were many lamb-based dishes, but few with ground lamb.  I came upon one for grilled lamb pops and decided to use this as a good starting point.  If you are a regular reader, you know that I rarely follow recipes to a T. Rather, I use them as an inspiration for a meal. 

We also had an abundance of sweet potatoes from our CSA and a never ending supply of tomatoes from our garden at home. I wanted to get them cooked up soon before they got soft and wilty.  So, I came upon another recipe for a Moroccan-flavored stew.  Here goes...

Grab two large pots. I used my Le Creuset wide  pan and the Dutch oven and put both on the stove top with a slice of bacon diced in each as well as some onions.  While these were warming up on the stove (slowly!), I began assembling the lamb meatballs. 

Ingredients:
- 1 lb ground lamb
- 1 egg
- 1/4 c. walnut meal (in place of breadcrumbs)
- garlic clove, smashed and diced
- chopped fresh herbs: mint, parsley, cilantro
- salt, pepper

Mix well with your hands and form into 1" balls.  Add to pan and cook on low/medium heat, moving around the pan until semi-firm (about 20 min). 

While the meatballs are cooking, begin work on the stew. Once done (about 20 minutes), turn off the heat and allow the meatballs to rest in the pan.

Ingredients:

- 1/4 c. onion diced

- 3 stalks of celery, diced (not in the original recipe, but I used them because I had them)
- 2 cups sweet potato, peeled, cut in 1" pieces (the recipe originally called for butternut squash, but I substituted this) 

- 1 (14 1/2 ounce) can diced tomatoes 

- as many fresh cherry tomatoes as you wish

- 2 cups water (again, another substitution--original called for chicken broth and I had none)

- generous handful of raisins -- I used golden raisins

- 3 cloves garlic, smashed and chopped

- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon ginger
- 1/8 teaspoon cardamom 

- 1/8 teaspoon clove

We've already began cooking one slice of bacon and onions as we were preparing the meatballs.  This is now nicely oily and the onions are translucent.  Add the celery and sweet potatoes and cook for 5 minutes.  Pour in the can of diced tomatoes and add 2 cups of water.  Allow this to come to a boil and then simmer (with the lid on) for 20-30 minutes.  Begin to check the sweet potatoes for done-ness.  If they are still tough, continue cooking for another 10 minutes or so.  Add the raisins, garlic and all spices.  Transfer the meatballs and some pan fat to the stew.  Let the flavors mix for 10-15 minutes.  The stew will be brothy.  If you prefer a thicker stew, take the lid off and allow some liquid to cook off.  

Serve over pureed sweet potatoes (about 1/2 cup) or couscous.

Tomatoes and sweet potatoes simmering in the pot

Lamb meatballs added

As plated

All-local meatloaf filled with veggies

Two things: a confession and a truth are combined in this post.  I confess that I have never had or made meatloaf in my entire 35 years of life. I'm totally telling the truth (about the meatloaf and my age).  Everytime I think of meatloaf I'm reminded from the scene from Wedding Crashers.

We had a pound of ground beef in our freezer and I wanted to make a dish that wasn't a burger. So, I did some quick internet searching and was inspired by a recipe I found on a Paleo-focused website. Here's my version.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 lb. bacon (between 10-12 slices)
• 1/2 c. diced onion reserved in 1/4 c. measurements
• 1/2 c. diced pepper
• 1 c. finely chopped button mushrooms (any mushroom will work well)
• 1 c. cooked kale or other hearty green (may substitute chard or spinach)
• 1 lb. ground beef
• 1 c. shredded carrots
• 2 tbs. stone ground mustard
• 2 tbs. ketchup 
• 2 tbs. Worcestershire sauce 
• 1 egg 
• Herbs to your liking: thyme, rosemary, cumin, garlic powder, dill
• Feta cheese (optional)

Preheat the oven to 400F. Line a cookie sheet with foil and place a rack on the cookie sheet. 

On your stovetop, heat up a large pan (I used my Le Creuset). Take 2 or 3 slices of the bacon and chop finely before adding to the pan.  Add 1/4 c. of onions and all of the diced peppers. Cook until fragrant, about 2 - 3 minutes. Add the mushrooms to the pan and cook thoroughly.  Remove from the pan and reserve.  In the same pan, cook the kale until fully wilted, remove from pan and allow to drain on a paper towel-lined plate or bowl. 

In a large bowl, add the following:

• Remaining onions
• 1 lb. ground beef
• 1 c. shredded carrots
• 2 tbs. stone ground mustard
• 2 tbs. ketchup 
• 2 tbs. Worcestershire sauce
• 1 egg
• Herbs to your liking: thyme, rosemary, cumin, garlic powder, dill

Mix well, so that all herbs and items are incorporated throughout.  If found it incredibly helpful to use my hands for this part.  Add the mushroom/onion/pepper mixture. Before adding the kale, make sure it is drained well and chopped finely.  Once all ingredients are incorporated, take 1/4 of the meatloaf mix and create a small loaf.  If you are using the feta cheese, make a small crater in the meatloaf and add the cheese; bring the sides of the loaf up around to close.  Repeat this 3 more times.

On your cookie sheet, lay out 8 pieces of bacon. Wrap each loaf with bacon and secure with a toothpick.

Put in the middle rack of the oven at 400F for 35 - 40 minutes.  I checked on it after 30 minutes and decided that it needed 15 more minutes to get the bacon crispy or until the internal temp reaches 160F. 

The mister was out at a meeting, so I kept his in the oven (with the gas turned off and the oven door ajar) to keep it warm. It did not overcook the meat or the bacon.  It was incredibly moist and tasty.  I was quite surprised at how well this came out because as I confessed earlier, I have never eaten meatloaf or even attempted to cook it.

"MA......WHERE'S THE MEATLOAF?!?!?!?!"

I suspect you could make this in a traditional pan loaf and line the pan with bacon, but would likely need to cook it longer. 

I cannot wait to make this again.  The bonus to this recipe is that ALL items with the exception of the herbs, ketchup, and mustard were all local. 

I tried my hand at growing vegetables this year. Part III

There have been great successes this summer with our garden and here's a snapshot of some of what I've been able to harvest:

Eggplant (dogs didn't come from the garden)

Cherry tomatoes

Beefsteak tomatoes. I have probably harvested at least 5 - 7 lbs and there's more to be had.

Countless caprese salads

The garden is rockin'

I will re-evaluate planting zucchini next year, as they took up an incredible amount of space and only one veggie came to fruition before rotting on the vine.  I have already planted new seeds for the fall; including two types of lettuce, red Russian kale, and Swiss Chard. 

I tried my hand at growing this year. Part II

As I said in my earlier post, there were successes and failures in my endeavor to grow veggies this year.  The mister and I played is safe and continued with our CSA membership, but decided to opt for the half share in lieu of the full share.

Some of the seeds I started inside were looking great, like the broccoli, pictured below:

Some of the other seeds (kale, cucumber, zucchini) called for a direct planting in the soil.  So, around Mother's Day I got the seeds in the dirt and within  three weeks, I already had some success.  I decided to also look for some plants at the farmer's market and picked up some eggplant plants from an organic farmer.  So, by memorial day, my garden looked like this:

Lettuce (up front), broccoli (middle), sunflower and eggplants (left and top), hints of kale (top right)

We were able to set up a watering system by running the hose from the house (some 50') along the top of our fence line and connecting it to a diverter connected to two soaker hoses.  Once in the AM and PM we watered the beds for 10 minutes.

Top row are cucumbers; bottom two rows are zucchini

Carrots in the foreground

As I said before, I had some failures in this process.  My tomatoes that I started from seed did not transplant well and died, so I bought 5 tomato plants from a farmer at the Phoenixville Farmer's Market.  My broccoli transplanted well, gave me lots of green leaves, but never delivered on the florets. 

Within a few weeks I was harvesting food and the garden was thriving. 

Before (upper) and after (lower)

In my next post, I'll give you the rundown of everything we harvested this year. 

I tried my hand at growing food this year

And I think I succeeded.

The discussion began in late winter.  I don't know if you could even call November 2012 - March 2013 winter-like this year, as we had unseasonable warm temps and little to no snow precipitation.  I mentioned to the mister that I'd like to try growing food this year in addition to our CSA.  I've grown some herbs and cherry tomatoes in containers before, but with limited success.  I don't know what gave me the confidence to try growing food on a bigger scale. 

The mister and I began researching raised bed plans and seed sellers online. We decided upon a 4' x 8' dimension for our beds, but since we have a large male dog it needed to be at least 24" high, lest he try to raise his leg. (Most raised bed plans call for no more than 6" height.) And, given the amount of food I planned to grow, we decided that two would be sufficient this year.  We also decided upon a location that would allow us to build a third one if this year's "experiment" was a success.

The mister downloaded plans from the internet and began planning his supply list -- which seemed to go on forever, but I'm sure he views my ingredient lists the same way.  The mister and I agreed that we were going to use cedar instead of pressure-treated wood for the beds since they treat pressure treated wood with chemicals.  So, one very expensive trip to Lowe's for lumber (it was $200+), we had a pile of wood in the backyard and the mister got building.  Two beds were built in a day, and resemble the same size of a single (sleeping) bed you'd have in your home. 

In the meantime, I got to seed shopping. I'm very interested in eating/growing/buying food that are not GMO.  So, I found Botanical Interests online.  They sell both non-GMO and organic seeds and I bought a bunch of them--different types of lettuce, kale, tomatoes, broccoli, herbs, sunflowers, zinnias, chard, zucchini, cucumber, and watermelon.

I plotted out my planting schedule on a spreadsheet and purchased some seed starting kits to begin the garden.  I put the kits in a sunny spot, on our heater, so that the seeds would germinate easily despite the shorter days.   After a week, I had success with my lettuce seeds sprouting through.

It was working!  The picture above is of lettuce sprouts.  In order to get these sprouts into the raised beds, we needed dirt. So, the mister went over to our local landscape supply company to talk dirt with them.  They recommended a mix of screened topsoil along with aged mushroom compost to provide nutrients to the beds.  So, a few days later, we had 5 tons of dirt delivered to our house and the mister got to moving.  It was a terribly rainy day, but he was able to fill both beds and cleared all dirt from the drop zone.  He's the best.

Now that the beds were filled with good dirt, I started to evaluate my planting schedule and started to get some seeds in the ground. There are many that call for planting after the threat of frost (which is usually after Mother's Day in the mid-Atlantic); however, some hearty greens like kale and lettuces can handle a frost and keep on growing. I made sure to transplant some around mid-April and by the end of April I was already seeing success with the red leaf lettuce.

It wasn't all successful, but since I'm getting pretty long-winded, I'm going to continue this in a second post. To be continued...

Every good soup starts the same way...

I have found that every single soup starts with the same base:

• carrots
• onions (or leeks)
• garlic
• celery (if available)
• spices (sage, thyme, bay leaves)

It's a great start to any soup. Get those chopped veggies into a large stockpot with a touch of oil. Warm until fragrant. Add about 8 - 10 cups veggie stock or chicken stock (water works just fine, too).   Bring to a boil, then allow to simmer for about 30 minutes.

This time, I found myself with lots of escarole. It's more of a bitter green, which is why it goes well in soups as opposed to eating it in a salad.

I chopped the escarole, added it to the pot, along with two cans of cannelini beans, and 3/4 cup pastini. I allowed that to simmer for a bit, and then cool on the stove top until ready for refrigeration.  I always give my soups at least a day before eating them. It allows the flavors to settle in and makes for a better tasting soup.

Here's a shot of my escarole soup. You could add small meatballs and eggs if you were going for a traditional "Italian Wedding Soup."  Otherwise, this recipe as posted is vegan.

Delicata squash with greens and kielbasa

So, I found myself with a glut of delicata squash and I was unsure what to make of it. As you know, I don't really follow recipes, but I'm "inspired" by them.  We had a party to attend, so I decided that the delicata squash would be a great base for the dish that I was going to bring. 

I looked at my cookbooks and found one for a sausage-stuffed delicata squash recipe. I didn't have any sausage, but I did have some excellent kielbasa in my freezer.

I began by preparing the squash, scrubbing the skins, cutting it lengthwise and scooping out the seeds.  I cooked the squash (skin-side up) in the oven at 375 degrees until easily pierced with a knife. I suggest checking on it after 20 minutes as cooking times vary, depending upon the thickness of the squash.  Once done, take the squash out of the oven and flip over. 

While the squash was cooking, I heated up my Le Creuset with some bacon pieces and onions.  Once the bacon leeched some fat into the pan, I began crumbling the kielbasa and browning it on medium heat.  Once the kielbasa appeared to be cooked thoroughly, I added about 2 handfuls of chopped kale to the pot.

Turn the heat to low and allow the kale to wilt down. Mix everything well in the pan and scoop into the cooked squash.  Once all squash is filled, top with breadcrumbs and put under the broiler briefly.

These were a huge hit at the party. We sliced them into small bites and everyone enjoyed them as finger food. One thing to keep in mind, you can eat the skins of delicata squash.