Generosity

Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will repay him for his deed. Proverbs 19:17

See this book?

(photo from ecrater)

I've been on a bit of a Julia Child bender since watching Julie and Julia. I checked out Julia Child's biography from the library and also found this book: From Julia Child's Kitchen. I have fallen in love with it. It is full of notes, explanations, basic instructions, definitions and, oh yeah, RECIPES! I mentioned on Twitter that I was reading it and this sweet lady mentioned that someone had given her a copy and she was going to make a purse from it. My heart stopped. "Nooooo!!!" I screamed. (She assured me that she only uses the cover of books and leaves the guts intact.) She offered me the book. THE BOOK!!! I breathlessly accepted and received it yesterday. I've been walking around reading snatches of it, cradling it like a newborn.

Hopefully, I can get unbusy enough to experiment with some of the recipes. I can practically smell them simmering...

In the meantime, go to Zaties on Etsy and have a look-see. That'll give me time to start some stew.

I'm Might Be Rolling Into Next Christmas...

Time to start some Christmas cooking and so far, all I can get out of hubby, is that he wants Buckeyes.

Like momma used to make.

(photo: allrecipes.com)

I've never made Buckeyes before, but I trolled the internet for recipes and I'm going to give it a shot.

He better savor each and every little ball, because after reading the directions, we may not be doing this again. Not sure how much patience I'll have rolling those balls.

(Recipe from allrecipes.com)

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups peanut butter
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 6 cups confectioners' sugar
• 4 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. In a large bowl, mix together the peanut butter, butter, vanilla and confectioners' sugar. The dough will look dry. Roll into 1 inch balls and place on a waxed paper-lined cookie sheet.
2. Press a toothpick into the top of each ball (to be used later as the handle for dipping) and chill in freezer until firm, about 30 minutes.
3. Melt chocolate chips in a double boiler or in a bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water. Stir frequently until smooth.
4. Dip frozen peanut butter balls in chocolate holding onto the toothpick. Leave a small portion of peanut butter showing at the top to make them look like Buckeyes. Put back on the cookie sheet and refrigerate until serving.

Nutritional Information

Amount Per Serving Calories: 331 | Total Fat: 19.4g | Cholesterol: 16mg

Warm and Fuzzy Breakfast

O.K., maybe it's not fuzzy, but it is warm. It'll make you feel fuzzy. How 'bout that?

Prepare your oatmeal according to the instructions on the package.

Add about a tablespoon (more or less to your taste) of Smart Balance "butter", a dropper of English Toffee flavored stevia and about half a cup of vanilla soymilk.

Yumbo!

I've been looking for a lower calorie version of oatmeal. I tend toward butter, brown sugar and cinnamon.

My new version is definitely a great substitute!

(You can find stevia at your health food store or here's a link to some of the flavored ones I like to use.)

Vacation Supper

See this Greek Salad?---------------------------->

Looks yummy doesn't it?

Pretend like I made this one.

Because mine looked almost exactly like it. You just can't see the anchovies.

And.

It was delicious.

Did I mention that I can't find the charger for the camera's batteries?

May I Recommend...?

I highly recommend layering

apples
american cheese
wheat bread

and toasting to golden goodness.

YUMBO!

*edited to add:
I finally found it! http://babyslime.livejournal.com/174054.html

Bet You've Never Tried This!

So I go to the Farmer's Market Saturday.

Among the vegetable vendors I spy a couple selling boiled peanuts. MMMMmmm. I love me some good boiled peanuts! As I was talking to them, the gentleman said, "Here, try this cake here. I'm trying something new. It's called 'Collard Green cake'."

I was torn. I do like collard greens and I do like cake. I just never dreamed they would marry up together! Unfortunately, I'm unable to resist the words "cream cheese icing", so I had a piece.

It was green.

Not a natural green.

More of a light St. Patrick's Day Green. Icing and all.

At his urging to take a big 'ole slab, I took a small one.

I bit.

Tasted like cake. A dense cake. Not sweet, so the icing was a good touch. He wanted to know if it were marketable.

I told him as long as he didn't tell anyone it had collards in it, perhaps he could.

Collard Green Cake.

Coming to a bakery near you.

Rawsome!

Check out The Daily Raw.

This concept fascinates me. I'm not there yet, but can you imagine?

Have you tried this?

Would you?

Grab a Plate and Pull Up a Chair

You guys ROCK!

You were so gracious to give me such helpful feedback about eating well. I'm looking forward to implementing your ideas. I'll give you an overview of what everyone shared...

Lunanik suggested Kale which I've been reading about but haven't had the guts to try since it's not a "mainstream" vegetable. She says to saute some onion and garlic (I'm already there--is there anything that smells better than onion and garlic while they are cooking?) keeping the pan wet with a little low sodioum chicken broth. Wilt the kale, but leave some curliness to it. Don't cook it down to nothing. Serve it on top of mashed potatoes. I would have never guessed mashed potatoes, but hey, I can count on Lunanik to pull some surprises. I've been considering kale recently and read that it's a nutritional powerhouse, so I'll be branching out. Thanks for stretching me, Lunanik!

InTheFastLane suggested incorporating black beans in different ways, like, grinding them up like meat and adding them to lasagna, soups and chili. All I can say is...Duh! Why hadn't that occurred to me? I agree with her that black beans on rice w/ salsa and cheddar cheese (add sour cream to mine please) is also one of my faves and I'm planning on doing that one this weekend! Yum! (Ooh, I bet a squeeze of lime juice would jack that up a bit and I just remembered! I have FRESH cilantro in a pot outside! OMG! Can this get ANY better?!)

Mrs. Blogoway gave me a link for a homemade Caesar salad that sounds divine: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/12730 I just want to know if you go the whole nine yards and make the croutons too?

Sweet (how appropriate is that name!) is a HUGE fan of stevia and clued me in to some of the variety of flavors available in Sweet Leaf Stevia: vanilla creme English toffee, Valencia orange and root beer flavors, just to name a few. Go here to see more. I found the packets of stevia at the (small) local health food store. The only liquid she has available is plain. But I'm keeping my eyes peeled for more! (Sweet, I would love to come visit, do you have a page? If you don't want to leave a comment to that effect, my email is on my profile page.) Another friend added that you can bake with stevia too! I'm wondering if you substitute it equally?

Now, I'll tell you my new favorite breakfast. Two of them. A bonus one because I love you so much.

1 Cinnamon Raisin Ezekiel 4:9 English muffin split and toasted (flourless, sprouted grains)
slather on some Smart Balance peanut butter
about a teaspoon of apple butter on each slice
Yum!

One of the variations on my protein shakes:
1/2 cup non fat vanilla yogurt
1/2 cup 2% milk (or lower percent)
1 teaspoon honey
1 scoop of chocolate protein powder
1/4 cup frozen cherries
whir and serve
voila! A healthy chocolate covered cherry!

Look! Now I'm a Cooking Blog!

Because so many of you were clamoring for the flax seed pudding recipe, (O.k., a couple of you asked about it.) here it is. I double it and use half water, half syrup. For the mix in, I use peanut butter. This is one breakfast that actually sticks with me.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup flax seed meal
1/4 cup water (some of the liquid can be sugar-free syrup, if desired)
1 egg
Sugar substitute to taste
Mixins as desired (see below)
Preparation:
Mix flax meal, egg, and water in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high for about 45 seconds. Move the cooked part of the pudding towards the center of the bowl and add any mix-ins you want. Microwave for about 45-60 more seconds, depending on mix-ins (frozen fruit will need even longer cooking, as it will cool down the pudding). Stir and eat.

Possible Additions:
Fresh or frozen berries or other fruit (Low Carb Fruit List)
Unsweetened coconut
Peanut butter or other nut butters
Small cubes of cream cheese (any fat level)
Sugar-free maple or other syrup
Sugar-free jam or preserves
Chopped nuts
Nutritional Information: Each serving has 1 gram effective carbohydrate plus 9 grams fiber, 12 grams protein, and 243 calories.