Sunday, November 20, 2011

Kale Chips


Wash the kale and dry well with either a salad spinner, bagged with holes punched in the bottom and swung until the excess is removed, or patted dry with clean dish towels. Toss with olive oil and sea salt and then bake in batches. Lay out each batch on a parchment paper or paper bag lined cookie sheet and bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Handle carefully as they will be fragile. These are best when served warm, they lost some appeal when they cooled. As a side, although they were tasty hot, they were not very interesting. And they most definitely do not taste like potato chips as I've read. They taste like dried leaves from a bouquet of flowers when cold. I'll be trying these again in twice baked potatoes as I think they'll add a nice earthy flavorful crunch.


Thursday, November 10, 2011

White Chicken Sausage Chili with Pureed Leek and Japanese Sweet Potato in a Bread Bowl

In a crock-pot, add two large cans of pinto and cannelloni beans. Add in 1 cup of water, 3 tbls of white pepper and freshly cracked or ground pepper, 1 tbls salt, 1 tbls powdered garlic, 3 tsp dry mustard, and 3 tbls of minced parsley. Pan fry 5 Spar's chicken sausages (I recommend the Apple, Bacon, Chive and Herb Sausages). Slice and add to the chili and cook for 4 hours.


Spray the bottoms of four oven safe bowls with olive oil spray. Divide pizza dough and shape into bowl shapes and fit over the bottoms of the containers, resting them onto a cookie sheet. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes or until golden brown.




Boil one medium sized sliced leek in 1 cup of water. Puree with a stick blender.
 Steam bake 1 Japanese Sweet Potato (Paper bag and microwave on the potato setting). Then slice and add to the leek puree.




Puree the sweet potato and then fill a pastry bag with the green creaminess and pipe onto your bowl, either on top or under the chili.
Five nice sized servings contain your day's recommended level of fiber and has been clinically shown to reduce blood sugar levels. Baked in its skin, 100 grams of sweet potato contains 90 calories with no cholesterol and minimal fat. Japanese sweet potatoes contain 11,509 micrograms of beta-carotene, which is especially important to the health of your eyes. An excellent source of vitamin A, sweet potatoes fulfil almost 12 times the daily amount recommended by the Institute of Medicine to maintain a low risk of chronic diseases. The vitamin C content in sweet potatoes is comparable to grapefruit and supplies 30 percent DV, or daily value.

One medium Japanese sweet potato contains 4 percent DV for calcium and iron and contains significant amounts of magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, zinc, copper, manganese and selenium. Sweet potatoes contain B vitamins -- thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid, folate and B-6. In addition, Japanese sweet potatoes contain essential amino acids.

To learn another way to make this awesome fall vegetable go to this link.



Friday, November 4, 2011

Our Wedding Cake!

The crew at Zillycakes created our all vegan wedding cake and cupcake tower and did a phenomenal job from conception to presentation! The bride and groom cake was vegan chocolate and the cupcakes were vegan chocolate and spice and had vegan chocolate, mojito, and spice frosting. Each came with either a chocolate coin, chocolate chips, or an intricately colored sugar skull.

Our cake topper came from Mexico....
                              love the sweet pea inspired design...


















...and this was our crazy quilt cake table cloth that I made.









We danced our way to the table to Average White Band's "Cut the Cake" and theatrically cut up and fed each other little bites as our friends and family watched and giggled hysterically at our antics.











Another Amazing Masterpiece from Zillycakes!
Thank you Zilly and Crew!


Photos provided by Denise Sanchez of Dee's Digital Delight.


Zillycakes on Urbanspoon

Spar's Heritage Sausage Wraps, Smoked Cheddar Buttermilk Biscuits, Organic Carrots, and Mixed Salad



Spar's Heritage Pork Smoked Sausage with Mushrooms & Bavarian Swiss wrapped in a soft buttermilk biscuit. Spar's also carries a number of deli meats and cheeses. In between two biscuits is a layer of their smoked cheddar. The carrots are rough jullienned and steamed. Their flavor was so amazing that they didn't need anything like butter or salt! Simple fair that's simply out of this world delicious!

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Beef Pot Pie

1 lb sirloin steak
8 large garlic cloves
2 scallions
1 medium Spanish onion
Organic Beef:
Better Than Bouillon
1/4 of warm water


Cook over medium until garlic is soft and the beef is tender, approximately 1 hour.

Boil potatoes, carrots, and leeks until soft. Add salt and pepper. Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees. Then layer onto the beef.
Fold gently and then pour into a large pie pan.
Layer on the pie crust, making at least four heat vents. Set onto a lined baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes, or until golden brown.
 Let sit for 20 minutes to cool slightly.
Dish and enjoy!

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Creamed Potato, Leek, and Shredded Zucchini with Yellow Fin Tuna, Asiago, and Ditalini Pasta Casserole


Cream together potatoes, leeks, heavy cream, shredded asiago, parsley, chili powder, salt, pepper, and celery salt.
 Shred the zucchini and add to the cream. Then add in the flaked tuna. Boil the ditalini pasta, drain, then mix into the veggie cream sauce.


Serve hot and enjoy!