Just beet it! (part 2)

Beet Chips (slightly altered recipe shown here)

2 beets, washed but not peeled
2-3 egg whites (save yolks by freezing in ice cube tray and then storing in bag in freezer)
1/2 Tp smoked paprika
1/2 T garlic powder
salt

Slice beets thinly, use a mandolin if possible to get uniform sizes. Rinse in glass bowl until water runs clear.

Combine egg whites and spices. Dip beets in mixture and place on parchment paper-lined cooking sheet.

Bake at 350 for 10 minutes.

Then flip over beets, increase temperature to 375 and bake another 15 minutes, but keep a close watch so they don't burn.

Salt to taste and enjoy!

I'm hoping to try this method with regular potatoes and sweet potatoes, as these chips were not greasy, nor did they get soggy! They did taste a little too "beet-y" for me, and the flavorings were not strong. However, many tasters did like it. Thus, I have altered the amounts for you so it does taste stronger! I think this would also be a great way to make Old Bay chips.

Just beet it! (part 1)

Haha, sorry, just had to put that in there :) And no, not to disappoint you, but this will not be a post about Michael Jackson. It will, however, be a post about BEETS! (Actually, a 3 part series!)

My next door neighbor (and friend) offered me her beets from her CSA box this week. (CSA= community supported agriculture. It means that you pay up front for a set number of weeks of produce. A great way to support local farms, especially if you can't grow your own.) In the past I had been "sneaky" and put beets into a few recipes (mint brownies or used in place of eggs when making chicken strips) but I really didn't know what I wanted to do with them. Enter a google search :)

I decided on a chocolate mousse pie, beet chips and sneaky brownies with beets added, for Leah to take to a Bible study. If I can fool teens, I'm happy  =)

To be honest, I wasn't a huge fan of the pie. I could taste the beets and it was so chocolatey I felt sick! But, my dad and step-mom and some friend's kids liked it, so who knows! The beet chips were the best texture of any chip I have made yet. I will definitely try this format with regular potatoes and sweet potatoes. The brownies also turned out awesome, nice and fluffy and not beet-y at all :)

Chocolate Mousse Pie (with some alterations)

1 c Bob's Red Mill gluten-free all-purpose flour (you can def use regular)
1/4 c coconut oil (frozen)
2 T cocoa powder
4 T sugar
5-6 T cold water

Combine first 3 ingredients in mixing bowl. Slowly integrate coconut oil until the batter resembles bread crumbs. Then slowly add water and stir until make a good dough. (Be careful to not add too much water! I did and I think that's why it was so sticky!) Refrigerate about 1/2 an hour then roll out to fit your pie pan. I rolled it between parchment paper, and glad I did because it was sticky! I added too much water :(  Bake at 210 for 10 minutes and cool completely.

1/2 c beet puree
1 c semi-sweet chocolate chips

To make beet puree you can either wash and roast beets or wash and boil them. I chose to boil (2 beets made about 1 c puree) and it took a long time for them to get soft, so you might actually want to do this first. Then puree in blender or food processor.

Slowly melt chips using double boiler method (I used a glass bowl on top of a pot with slightly boiling water.)

Then add beet puree and mix well. It takes a bit to get it combined really well.

Pour chocolate mixture into crust and refrigerate until set.

Cinnamon Almonds

I love Pinterest. It took me a while to catch on (mostly due to lack of time to get it all figured out!) but it is a great way to save all the recipes that I find and want to try. If you want to search my recipes by picture, you can do that here. Feel free to check out my other boards as well!

Here's one that just had to try, and it makes your house smell so good! (Although I'm now steaming some shrimp, so it smells like Old Bay, lol.)

Cinnamon "Roasted" Almonds (Adapted from the recipe here.)
*This recipe doubles well.

3 c raw organic almonds, walnuts or combination of the two
1 c sucanat
1/4 c water
1 T cinnamon

Combine sucanat, water and cinnamon in large skillet on medium heat. Once combined, add almonds, stirring constantly to coat almonds in mixture. You may need to turn heat down as the sauce cooks off. Keep stirring until sugar crystallizes on almonds. I was worried I wouldn't know when this happened, but trust me, you'll know! It will become harder and harder to stir. Cool on parchment paper. Enjoy!

Ah, Local Dining at Its Finest!

Today, I was super excited. My husband and I had the whole day to ourselves- no kids, which very rarely happens! This afternoon we got to go bowling, one of our favorite dates but we don't get to do too often. And no, I will NOT reveal my scores, ugh, they were horrible today. I totally blame it on the floor, you couldn't slide at all. The best part though was seeing a former home-bound student that I haven't seen in almost 6 years!

But, I was most excited for the next part of our day- visiting the Farmers on the Square market in Carlisle followed by dinner at the Green Room!

The market was the cutest open-air market ever. There were not so many vendors that you were overwhelmed but enough for a great variety of foods (and all local, and most either organic or pesticide free). There were bakers (including a gluten-free Green Room booth!), meats, ice cream, honey, soaps, cheeses, fresh fruits and veggies, massage, bubbles and a band! I loved it! Wish we lived closer so I could visit it every week (Wednesdays from 3-7). Here's what I ended up with:

- 1 quart organic strawberries, $6 (Shortcake will be baked tomorrow! Thankful I already have some homemade whipped cream in the fridge from making some frozen mochas last night!)
- 2 small loaves gluten-free sourdough bread from the Green Room bakery, $5
- Honey-based lip balm, $3
- Honey-based hand creme, $6

I could have (and should have) bought more, but we wanted to get to the Green Room right when they opened. I'll say it again, I really wish there was a market quite like this one close by. I love York's Central Market but not everything there is local, etc. So we were off to dinner after a quick stop at the car to chill the strawberries.

I have only ever been to the Green Room one other time, almost 2 years ago, for my 30th birthday. We were well overdue! I will be honest up front, it is much more costly than any other dinner we have had. For me though, I would rather do a dinner like this infrequently than meals at chain restaurants frequently. At least after this meal I was stuffed, but not sick or tired like I am if I eat most anywhere else (except the Warehouse Gourmet, one of my other faves, and a bit cheaper).

It is so hard to decide what to get when I go there. I'm the kind of person who loves to split meals, especially if it is something new or different that I haven't had before (remember Planet X?)

First I chose a salad with coconut chicken, strawberries and orange blossom vinaigrette. It was fabulous! I definitely want to try to recreate the chicken, delish! You can get this as a meal but they were able to make it into a side salad for me.

We also each got some bread. Randy's was an onion pesto bread that he absolutely loved, but I forgot to get a picture of it. They gave me some gluten-free sourdough- the same kind I just bought at the market! Good thing I liked it :)

 Then for my meal I chose Alaskan rockfish, pan fried with sticky rice and an onion/garlic broth. Randy wanted to take my pic with my meal :)

And here's a close-up:

The rockfish is on top of the sticky rice. I've never had anything quite like it but it was very good! I joked that the fish needed a little Old Bay on it (we keep an emergency bottle in the car, but I forgot to put it in my purse).

Randy was a little camera shy, but he ordered the sirloin steak with beet greens and potatoes:

The greens were so good, garlic-y and salty. The steak was very good also, and no hormones or grain here!

I don't typically get dessert out, but this is definitely an exceptional place. I ordered mint chocolate "ice cream" although it was vegan, I think made with coconut milk. It was very good, although the mint could have been stronger. The chocolate was definitely the best part!

Randy ordered a vegan, gluten-free "cheese" cake. We both thought it was "ok". I actually didn't really like the honey drizzled on it, made it too sweet for me.

Ah, what a meal! I can't wait 2 years to get back! Hoping to visit again this summer with my sister when she is home, and hopefully on a Wednesday so we can get to the market, too! Hmmm, I think I may have to go break into that sourdough bread now...

My New Breakfast (again- lol) The Green Monster

So, in my search for the new and improved breakfast (keeping in lines w/ being low carb and gluten-free) and wanting to get more veggies in my diet, I decided to try my own version of a green monster. My friend Jess said she drinks one every day for breakfast, and while I love my smoothies as an evening snack, I wasn't sure my stomach could handle them in the morning or that they would be filling enough. Thankfully I was wrong on both accounts! Keep in mind that this ends up tasting not like spinach or banana...just, yummy! I can't stand bananas in smoothies or bananas in the morning, but in this drink, it is like drinking pure freshness.

The first few days I did eat a coconut muffin to go along with the smoothie because I felt like I needed to chew something. Then I stopped, and I was fine! I also love the portability and if I'm running late it is no big deal to "eat" breakfast in the car. I did modify Jess' recipe a bit. Here's my version:

8 cubes ice
1 banana
2 handfuls spinach
1/4 c fresh or frozen blueberries (I did not add them in the pictures below but they add a nice touch of color and flavor.)
1 T flax
1 T chia seeds
1 T peanut butter or almond butter (although I prefer the flavor of the PB)
1/2-3/4 c water (I don't really measure this. I have used coconut milk and liked that as well. One day I tried adding coconut oil to it and HATED it. Which is weird because I love me some coconut oil.)

Step 1: Add ice to blender

Step 2: Add banana

 Step 3: Add spinach

 

Step 4: Add chia, flax and peanut butter.

 Step 5: Add water (pictured) or coconut milk.

 Step 6: Blend until smooth (I use my Magic Bullet) and pour into cute travel cup student gives you for a present :) The cup holds 18 oz and I usually have a little more left in the mixer.

Is it just me, or does my cap look a little crooked???

The biggest benefit of this drink is that it has sent me craving more veggies all day :) Something about having them to start the day, I can't quite explain it. So, I have re-vamped my lunches at school to include more veggies other than just carrots. I pack a week's worth of all ingredients but the salad. I keep them in my lunch bag at school so I don't have to think about most of my lunch each night. Then while I'm drinking my green monster I make the salad, which is easy since I already have the spinach out anyway :)

School Lunch

Baby spinach and romaine salad with one hard boiled egg, chopped, carrots, and 1 T dressing (I am really into raspberry vinaigrette right now)
One organic gala apple
One choco chip coconut muffin

If I need something after school I usually go for a handful of organic raw cashews. The taste is definitely different than the roasted but once you try it you will never go back and your body won't miss the salt, either.

For dinner I have been making sure to eat a salad along with small portions of everything else. Which, to be quite honest, ends up being popcorn and a fruit like watermelon or pineapple. That's my favorite dinner right now :) I'm a simple girl! And I love my popcorn!

Now I'm getting veggies in as the bulk of ALL of my meals, and my body is thanking me, I love it!

Garden Update

*Disclaimer* The first part of this post is from 2 weeks ago- I haven't had much chance to blog!

Wow, what a difference 2 weeks makes! Most of my babies have outgrown their eggshells and were upgraded this week to larger pots. I have also moved them to the garage in front of a window so they can get used to variable temperatures (although the last few days have been exceptionally warm here, but perfect for garden work!). I still have one egg carton left inside. Some of them are soon ready to move, while others (aka peppers) have yet to make an appearance! Last year they were stubborn and seemed to take forever to sprout, grow, and produce although we did pick 4 or 5 peppers from them.

I have spent the last 48 hours weeding all of my beds and ended up with a truck-load- literally! I filled the back of my husband's pick-up with them! It is amazing how quickly they will grow (especially some type of wild mum and nettle that take over our back bed). I also now have some stained nails and hands but it is worth it, and I have had more energy the last 2 days and I think it is simply because of playing in the dirt!

Still waiting to have my raised bed repaired before I can actually put any plants in. I also need to beef up the soil. I plan to mix in some of the organic soil from Sonnewald and also dig up some worms in other parts to add to it. Also still waiting for permission for a compost bin and rain barrels...

Here's how the babies look now:

And, because I have not had time to blog, here's what they look like now, with another flat of additions:

And quite honestly they are bigger yet since taking these pics! I had about 10 seeds not do anything from the first batch so I replanted new seeds and started an egg carton of marigolds and one of sunflowers. They are doing well also. I can't wait to actually get them in the garden!

This post is part of the link-up at No Ordinary Homestead.

Gluten Free Strawberry Shortcake

Oh.My.
We have a neighbor who occasionally shares the bounty of his home garden. In the past it might have been some asparagus or some tomatoes. But tonight he knocks on the door during supper with this in his hands:

Which turned into this:

And I just thought this one looked like a flower when I cut it:

Of course this meant shortcake was in order (there goes working on report cards tonight!).
I have a good shortcake recipe, but of course it is not gluten-free so I had to go digging around for one that is suitable. I came across this one, but for some reason chocolate shortcake did not seem appealing so here's my version:

1 1/2 c almond flour
1/4 c coconut flour
pinch salt
1/2 T baking soda
3 eggs
1/2 c maple syrup
vanilla to taste

Preheat oven to 350. Cream together vanilla, eggs and syrup in small bowl. Mix other ingredients in large bowl and add wet ingredients. Pour batter into muffin tin (I love using the If You Care muffin cups- nothing ever sticks to them and you don't have to grease them! They also make a great parchment paper.) You can also bake in a pie pan if you like. Bake 12-15 minutes, remove from oven and cool. Top with whipped cream and strawberries.

Now I typically add milk to my shortcake but since I had some whipping cream in the fridge, I figured I had to try it with whipped cream instead. Here's my whipped cream recipe so you don't have to go searching:

1 pint organic whipping cream
1 T organic sugar
1 T vanilla

Put all ingredients in large metal bowl. Whip with hand blender until stiff (I actually whip longer than it might need so it keeps longer in the fridge without separating).

And here's the finished product:

This was SO good, I could definitely have eaten 2. You would never guess it was gluten-free!