I LOVE FALL!!! And Fall in SC couldn't be better! You can imagine my thrill when I woke up the other day to 60 degree weather!!!! And Lo and Behold this morning I woke up to rain. That's one of my favorite sounds in the world. Needless to say, the cupcake experiment got put on hold, due to a soggy day. Or rather, I was really in the mood for soup instead. My favorite kinds of soup are the ones that require little to no thinking. Throw some stock in the pot, add this and that and Voila! It's soup! So here's what I had in my kitchen when I got started: Raw sugar, baby food and tomato sauce. Mmmmm! Appetizing! Off to the store I went. And after a half hour returned with the following decision: It's a really bad idea to shop while you're hungry.
So what, pray tell, are we making today? Hamburger, vegetables and lentils. Yummy! Why I came up with that particular combination, I don't know. All I know is my stomach said "grab that!" And I listened. Here's what I got:
1 lb ground lean meat
2 cups of chopped mixed vegetables
1 1/2 cups lentils
5-6 cups of water (OK the water came from my tap, but you get the idea)
Salt and pepper to taste
In a large pot I browned the meat (I used venison that I found in the recesses of my freezer, but you can use whatever you want). Add a little bit of the water and with a wooden spoon scrub the "crusties" off the bottom of the pot. This is flavor, people! They'll dissolve as you cook, but dissolve better if you get them off the bottom first. Pour on the rest of the water and bring to a boil. Now for the veggies. I used corn, green beans, potatoes, celery, and a little bit of onion. If you want better flavor from the onions, add them to the meat while browning. Add all the veggies except the potatoes. They don't take very long to cook. Bring back to a boil and then reduce to a high simmer for 45 minutes. Add the lentils and potatoes and simmer another 15-20 minutes or until lentils are tender.
I used fresh everything for this recipe. If you are going to use canned veggies, however, skip the 45 minute boil period and just add all the veggies and lentils at the same time.
Now just cozy up in front of the fireplace with a good book and a big bowl of this stuff and listen to the rain!
for your fire--- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejQBThHIDuc
For your Rain---http://whitenoise247.net/nature.aspx
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Thursday, September 8, 2011
"Let them eat Cupcakes!!!" Experiment #1
Here's our first try at Agave Cupcakes! They always say: The taste of a batter-whether it's cake or cookie-is a good indicator of the final taste of your finished baked good. Well maybe they don't say it like that. I put it that way for dramatic effect. But I'm actually a firm believer in this*(see footnote!). I always try my "famous cookies" before I bake them. It's how I can tell I made them right and a great way to fix mistakes before it's too late to fix them. I've even been known to just make and eat the cookie dough on days when I feel a little down.Well at least before I cracked down on my eating habits.
(BTW since said cookie recipe is absolutely in no way healthy for you in the least, and mostly because it is a coveted recipe that people have been after me for ages to get, It will not now or even perhaps ever make an appearance on this blog.)
They also say that if dieters allow themselves a little indulgence that they are more likely to stay on track because they are less likely to break down and binge on an entire tub of ice cream....not that I've ever done that........Anyways! Having tasted this particular batter I had high hopes! It was creamy and sweet and oh so yummy! How it turned out however was a complete surprise. Although now that I think about it, it really shouldn't have surprised me. The Agave didn't have as much of an impact on the taste as the type of flour I used! I should have known. I use agave here and there and I noticed it really doesn't differ, taste-wise from regular sugar. I really should have thought of that before. I don't know why I thought that baking it would change the flavor of the agave. The biggest noticeable taste difference came from the flour!
The ingredients I have available to me for healthy eating are limited to what is carried in local supermarkets. My local whole food store is all the way across town, and very expensive. Ordering 20 lbs of flour via internet is completely impractical when shipping charges are more than your entire order. Therefore I am resigned to simple whole wheat or whole grain flour for almost all of my baking. This affects the taste of every baked good I make. When I tasted these cupcakes for the first time, the texture was right, it was fluffy and soft and moist, but the taste was like my honey whole wheat muffins! I might as well have made them instead and saved myself all the fat that was used in the cake recipe! Perhaps I will use this recipe for the cupcakes and just replace the whole wheat with *shudder* white flour. After all it is a special occasion. My friends in the social networking world tell me that coconut flour is a good substitute but since I do not currently have access to it I cannot tell you how well it works or even how to substitute it. If you can get used to the taste of the whole wheat in this recipe it still is very good. Also since it is a special occasion, we will be using a lot more fats than i would normally use. You may omit as much fat as you want, but it will affect the texture greatly. So pick and choose your battles on this one. If it is of any relevance, Little Red ate one.....but has yet to ask for another.
Agave Cupcakes
1 1/2 cups sifted whole wheat flour
2/3 cup agave
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup milk
1/3 cup shortening
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift flour into a bowl. (The brown specks left over are from the hull. You can choose to add them back to the flour or to throw them out. It won't affect anything but the color of your cake.) Add remainder of ingredients and blend for 30 seconds either by hand or on lowest speed on your mixer. (I miss my stand mixer.....) Once combined, beat batter on high for 3 full minutes (I had to do this by hand. I REALLY miss my stand mixer......). Spoon into cupcake cups already in the tin. To make a regular cake: pour into a greased and floured 8x8 cake pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes for cupcakes or 30-40 minutes for regular cake. Or if you're like me and tend to forget to set the timer, keep an eye on it and watch for lightly browned tops and stick a toothpick in the middle of one. If the toothpick comes out clean, they're done!
*Let me make a disclaimer from earlier!!! I am NOT telling you to eat raw eggs! I'm just saying I do when i try my un-cooked batter. If you choose to do so it will be at your own risk. I accept absolutely NO RESPONSIBILITY for your own actions!
(BTW since said cookie recipe is absolutely in no way healthy for you in the least, and mostly because it is a coveted recipe that people have been after me for ages to get, It will not now or even perhaps ever make an appearance on this blog.)
They also say that if dieters allow themselves a little indulgence that they are more likely to stay on track because they are less likely to break down and binge on an entire tub of ice cream....not that I've ever done that........Anyways! Having tasted this particular batter I had high hopes! It was creamy and sweet and oh so yummy! How it turned out however was a complete surprise. Although now that I think about it, it really shouldn't have surprised me. The Agave didn't have as much of an impact on the taste as the type of flour I used! I should have known. I use agave here and there and I noticed it really doesn't differ, taste-wise from regular sugar. I really should have thought of that before. I don't know why I thought that baking it would change the flavor of the agave. The biggest noticeable taste difference came from the flour!
The ingredients I have available to me for healthy eating are limited to what is carried in local supermarkets. My local whole food store is all the way across town, and very expensive. Ordering 20 lbs of flour via internet is completely impractical when shipping charges are more than your entire order. Therefore I am resigned to simple whole wheat or whole grain flour for almost all of my baking. This affects the taste of every baked good I make. When I tasted these cupcakes for the first time, the texture was right, it was fluffy and soft and moist, but the taste was like my honey whole wheat muffins! I might as well have made them instead and saved myself all the fat that was used in the cake recipe! Perhaps I will use this recipe for the cupcakes and just replace the whole wheat with *shudder* white flour. After all it is a special occasion. My friends in the social networking world tell me that coconut flour is a good substitute but since I do not currently have access to it I cannot tell you how well it works or even how to substitute it. If you can get used to the taste of the whole wheat in this recipe it still is very good. Also since it is a special occasion, we will be using a lot more fats than i would normally use. You may omit as much fat as you want, but it will affect the texture greatly. So pick and choose your battles on this one. If it is of any relevance, Little Red ate one.....but has yet to ask for another.
Agave Cupcakes
1 1/2 cups sifted whole wheat flour
2/3 cup agave
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup milk
1/3 cup shortening
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift flour into a bowl. (The brown specks left over are from the hull. You can choose to add them back to the flour or to throw them out. It won't affect anything but the color of your cake.) Add remainder of ingredients and blend for 30 seconds either by hand or on lowest speed on your mixer. (I miss my stand mixer.....) Once combined, beat batter on high for 3 full minutes (I had to do this by hand. I REALLY miss my stand mixer......). Spoon into cupcake cups already in the tin. To make a regular cake: pour into a greased and floured 8x8 cake pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes for cupcakes or 30-40 minutes for regular cake. Or if you're like me and tend to forget to set the timer, keep an eye on it and watch for lightly browned tops and stick a toothpick in the middle of one. If the toothpick comes out clean, they're done!
*Let me make a disclaimer from earlier!!! I am NOT telling you to eat raw eggs! I'm just saying I do when i try my un-cooked batter. If you choose to do so it will be at your own risk. I accept absolutely NO RESPONSIBILITY for your own actions!
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