For now

I'm taking a break from this blog for awhile.

Roasted broccoli

Today is day one of a return to healthful eating (Dragon's Way), and yes, to being gluten-free and casein-free.  I didn't just fall off the wagon...I fell off, then decided to join a crazy happy dance caravan.  When I came to, it was a long and arduous trek back.

But, I'm here now.

I was recently drawn to Elana's Roasted Broccoli post at Elana's Pantry.  I'd starred it in my Google Reader, tucked it away.

This afternoon, I needed a snack.  Withdrawal from meat and dairy, eggs and sugar, and junk food has hit fast.  I sliced a couple of the giant Mutsu apples that came in our CSA fruit share last week and enjoyed them with the kids. 

I needed something more.  I imagine what I need is protein.  Preferably animal protein.  But a quick glance down at my ample belly tells me otherwise.  There's just no way my body needs meat, dairy or eggs right now.


There's broccoli in the fridge so I distracted myself with trying out a new recipe.  Roasted broccoli.

Honestly?  I was a bit underwhelmed.  My first piece was bitter.  (The emotion associated with the heart system in TCM.)  I took these out at 13 minutes.  They are cooked, I was careful to cut them in small pieces.  But, they are just shy of crunchy.  Next time I'm going to push for 15 minutes and watch for the softness/browning ratio.

To be clear, I think the recipe is sound (the recipe can be found in the link above).  Future tweaking will be based on my own preferences and ensuring the quality of the broccoli I start out with (this head was from the supermarket, not John's farm.)

I'm going to pack these up for adding to stir-fries and scrambles later.  They'd be great on pizza.

Easy chana masala and kale

The "easy" comes from the fact that I did not make this chana masala.  Here's a recipe for chana masala that looks good.  It is one of Red Sox Daddy's fave Indian dishes.

I bought some yesterday morning during a solo week's food shopping trip.  It was early and I was alone at the deli counter at Whole Foods which never happens.  While I was waiting for the usual slow cooked ham and roasted turkey, I had a clear view of the big, pretty (read colorful...orange is a color that just makes me happy) vats of chicken vindaloo and chana masala.

The chana masala was vegan and GF so I went off-list and bought a pint container for Red Sox Daddy.

Fast forward to lunch today.  RSD did not like the texture of the chickpeas so there was quite a bit of the chana masala leftover.  There was also leftover white rice in the rice cooker.  I had some kale calling to me so I made me a chana masala-kale rice bowl.

I reheated the chana masala, sautéed the kale with garlic, and added both to a bowl of rice.  Yum.

Sautéed Kale

1 bunch kale, washed and torn into bite-size pieces

1 large/2 small cloves garlic

extra virgin olive oil to coat the bottom of a sauté pan

Heat olive oil and press garlic into pan. (I love my garlic press, you may do with your garlic what you will)

Add kale.  Stir well.

Lower heat and cover so kale wilts.

Snack

This blog and my knitting blog have been suffering from some serious neglect.  

I'm in a big decluttering phase right now and energy is definitely going towards unhitching myself, and my family, from environmental (and emotional) baggage.  I sense that as we get deeper into Fall, and certainly by Winter, that I will be more focused on nourishing through food and fiber.

Apple season has arrived in the Garden State.  Our CSA fruit orchard has plenty of apples and we've been enjoying a variety of flavors and textures.  Lately, snacks are an apple and something salty/crunchy.

Today, the kids and I cleaned out and reorganized the pantry.  We found the Chinese rock candy we picked up at an Asian market over the summer.  It rounded out the snack offerings nicely :-)

Hummus-avocado open-faced sandwich

Things have definitely been quiet on the kitchen front.  I mostly go in to fix quickish, routine meals these days.  I am a woman of many passions and don't have enough time and/or energy to juggle all of them at once.  Well that, and it's not in my nature.  I abandoned thinking of multi-tasking as a good thing a long time ago and have never looked back.

I was happy to see that one of my avocados was ripe today.  (Locals, organic avocados on sale at Whole Foods...a bag of four for $4!)

My body has been insistent on being fed protein lately, so rather than my usual avocado on toast with mayo, I decided to swap some hummus in for the mayo.  (My hummus of choice is the Whole Foods house hummus in the "original" flavor.)

I shook on some salt pepper and drizzled the delectable Falconero olive oil over the whole thing.

Oh.  My.  Freaking.  God.  Soooooo good.

I tried not to moan too loudly as I ate since GFCF Kid was sitting across from me enjoying his lunch of something else (he thinks avocados are gross.)

With a couple of bites left, I came somewhat back to earth and thought I'd take a picture.  For you :-)

Now, I know this is not an original sandwich.  And, it's quite likely I've had this combo before.  But, when you're ADDish like me, it is a pleasure of life that wonderful experiences feel completely new because past experiences have been forgotten.

So I present to you, the new-for-me-today: hummus-avocado open-faced sandwich.  Use your most delicious olive oil for this.  It can really make the sandwich sing.

Freezing peaches

This summer's local bumper fruit crop has been peaches.  Week after week our CSA fruit share has contained beautiful, fragrant, delicious peaches.  July and much of August were too hot for me to even think about baking so they have been consumed fresh and in smoothies.  And we can't keep up!  (GFCF Kid and Red Sox Daddy are not fans of the fresh peach.)

So, this morning I got to work and washed, peeled, sliced, weighed, and bagged 8 lbs. of peaches (enough for four pies, yum).  More than once I thought about how American pioneer women kept themselves sane by doing what work they could do together, with each other.  I was a bit lonely, just me and the peaches.

Here is my go-to peach pie recipe.  I'm not sure when I will bake my next peach pie, but with the peaches ready to go, I know we'll be enjoying one sometime soon.   (BTW, I have followed the peeling method in this recipe in the past, but peeled by hand this morning because the peaches were so ripe the skins were practically falling off.)

Chocolate chip cookies

I felt very loved when Red Sox Daddy handed me this plate of cookies that were still warm from the oven.  I requested cold rice milk and it arrived in my favorite glass.  This classic American combo...it gives a wonderful lift to your day or night.

The recipe is from Living Without and can be found here (though I don't know for how long).  This is definitely one of those recipes that will have your gluten-consuming friends coming back for seconds claiming they taste like "regular" chocolate chip cookies.