NaBloPoMoNoProFoNo #30: Completed!

Woohoo, a month of NaBloPoMo completed, and a month of no processed-food-eating (with select exceptions) completed as well.  For my last post I am (maybe anti-climatically) indexing all my previous posts, since I either don't like the way Blogger indexes, or I can't figure out Blogger.  Uh, they are both possible.  Anyways!

#1: an intro post by Sarah

#2: Because Applebee's is THE WORST, that's why.

#3: On foods that taste like childhood. #RECIPE - Tsoureki

#4: Musings on flour and sugar

#5: Lunches for the lazy. #RECIPE - Confetti rice salad

#6: What I Ate Wednesday!

#7: Slow cooker love #RECIPE: Slow-cooked ham and bean soup

#8: Musings on dairy

#9: Musings on trying new recipes (subtitle: they can't all be winners, folks)

#10: #RECIPE: Angel food cake

 #11: Disappointments - musings on foods that didn't make the cut.

 #12: Happy Taco Tuesday! #RECIPE - slow cooker pork carnitas

#13: What I Ate Wednesday

#14: Taco Tuesday part Dos #RECIPE - slow-cooker refried beans

 #15: Taco tuesday part Tres (Subtitled: tortilla recipe HALP?)

#16: Food blogs I follow

#17: Making vs. buying #RECIPE - hummus

#18: #RECIPE - pita bread

#19: Taco Tuesday part quatro #RECIPE - taco seasoning

#20: What I Ate Wednesday!

#21: #RECIPE - slow cooker mashed potatoes

#22: #RECIPE - Pumpkin pecan pie

#23: #RECIPE - Lazy pie crust

#24: Martha, I get you.

#25: #RECIPE - Slow cooked red pepper lentil soup

#26: Buffalo chicken salad WITH FRANK'S.

#27: In which I manage to fail at What I Ate Wednesday

#28: Unprocessed Thanksgiving!

#29: Thoughts on no processed food November

 Happy eating :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NaBloPoMoNoProFoNo #29: Thoughts on no processed food November

Well, NoProFoNo is coming to an end tomorrow.  Some thoughts on eating no processed food for a month...

OK, let's be honest, I cheated a bit.  I ate sugar probably every day, I decided that the gelatin and corn starch in my yogurt weren't worth giving up yogurt for, I decided that restaurants don't count, etcetera.

THAT SAID, I think the most important thing that happened was I got in the habit of reading labels at the grocery store, and that was actually pretty fascinating.  I also made some hard and fast rules about things I won't compromise on -- no artificial colors, no creepy preservatives, no corn syrup, no getting duped by things with all-natural hippie-dippie packaging that contain one or all of the above. 

So pretty much, as long as you can read labels and have a modicum of self-control at the grocery store, you can have a lifestyle of eating real food only* (*with a few exceptions), which I am happy with.  

NaBloPoMoNoProFoNo #28: Unprocessed Thanksgiving!

Happy Unprocessed Thanksgiving! There are a few minor processed ingredients going on here that I'm not sweating.  For the most part everything was from scratch, and even mostly organic *pats self on back*.  MORE IMPORTANTLY, IT WAS DELICIOUS.

NaBloPoMoNoProFoNo #27: In which I manage to fail at What I Ate Wednesday

Today I had premade yogurt for breakfast, canned soup for lunch, and I think we're going out for dinner?  I did, however, just pull this pie out of the oven, and I have these rolls rising as we speak. So I'm cooking stuff, it's just for tomorrow. Pre-Thanksgiving laziness, yeeeah! To be followed by a flurry of cooking and then by three days of post-Thanksgiving laziness. Oh, what a holiday.

NaBloPoMoNoProFoNo #26: Buffalo chicken salad WITH FRANK'S.

Tonight's dinner, super-quick and easy because Thanksgiving is coming up, so why exert ourselves now: salad with sauteed buffalo chicken, side of cheese and crackers.  CRITICALLY IMPORTANT NOTE:  Frank's Red Hot passes the kitchen test!!!  You have no idea how excited I was when I found that out.

NaBloPoMoNoProFoNo #25: #RECIPE - Slow cooked red pepper lentil soup

Red pepper lentil soup is probably the soup I make the most.  From the ingredients list, it doesn't look like much, but I promise you it is tasty (...because when recipes aren't tasty, I never make them again ever).  It's also vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free, which is nice to have in your back pocket for when you dine with someone with dietary restrictions.  AND, it slow-cooks during the day so you don't have to fuss with dinner after work.  ...You can see why I love it so much.

 

Red pepper lentil soup
adapted from Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook

Ingredients

Before slow cooking:

1 T olive oil

1 onion, finely chopped

2 red peppers, finely chopped

6 cloves garlic, finely chopped (or more)

2 t paprika

1 cup dried lentils

5 cups water

After slow cooking:

1 T olive oil

2 t salt

1/2 t fresh ground pepper (I never actually measure this)

2 T red wine vinegar

Instructions

Heat olive oil over medium heat. 
Add onion and garlic and cook, stirring a few times, until they begin to soften (about 3 minutes).

Stir in paprika and cook about a minute more.

Add red pepper and cook for 2-3 more minutes, until softened (not browned).

Scrape all the veggies and oil into the slow cooker.

Add the lentils and the water.
Cook on low, 8 hours (ish).

Before serving, add the additional olive oil, the salt, the pepper, and the vinegar.

This soup makes a fantastic dinner with salad and french bread, though it also freezes well for lunches.

COOK ALL OF THE THINGS: Sweet potato kale hashed browns, red cabbage and sausage soup, sweet potato tots.

I have had a busy couple of weeks that has involved a lot of going out to eat. Weekends are prime cooking times, and last weekend I was in Washington DC for a conference. So here's me playing catch up:

This morning for breakfast, we decided we wanted eggs, but I needed something carb-y. Alas, we have no bread products. What did we have? Sweet potatoes.

So, I decided to make sweet potato hashed browns. aka, sweet browns. To start, I peeled and grated two raw sweet potatoes and chopped large two green onions and  4 cloves of garlic.

Then I added about a tablespoon of olive oil to a pan and pre heated it over medium-high heat. Then I added about 2 cups of frozen chopped kale from Costco to thaw it in the oil. After the kale was defrosted I added the sweet potato, garlic, and onion, and about a quarter cup of water, covered and simmered for about 10 minutes to soften the potato. Then I took the lid off, and browned the mixture on high heat for about 5 minutes.

Then I tried to make over medium eggs. I failed mostly. While cooking 4 eggs at once, 1 of them was over medium, the rest were over hard. Riddle me that. Any egg cooking tips would be much appreciated.

Then I continued the cooking extravaganza by making some sausage and cabbage soup, based on this recipe, because I wanted to try my hand at pressure canning. 

Alterations: 

- instead of regular type Italian sausage, I used cudighi, the Yooper variety of Italian sausage obtained from Dick Ross. 

- I only used 1 lb of sausage, because 2 lbs seemed too meaty. 

- I added probably 2 cups of celery

- I only added 6 cups of water rather than 8

- I (surprisingly) didn't get sufficient fat off of the meat, so i added a tbs of olive oil.

- also, somehow I failed at having garlic, so i didn't include any. 

Otherwise I followed the instructions. We ate a couple of bowls before canning and it was delicious. Between all of the cabbage and pork fat, it sort of tasted a little bit like an egg roll to me. I didn't get much tomato taste out of it, but it was enjoyable overall. I might add more tomato if I redo it. 

I also pressure canned some of the leftovers. This is the first time that I have ever used the pressure canner, but it's going well. As far as I can tell you just have to read the instructions on your particular pressure cooker, and to monitor it through the whole processing time. It's REALLY HARD to find a temp that will keep it at the right pressure. 

The canned product: not the red color, due to the tomato and red cabbage bleeding into it. Also the salt line, because I forgot to put the vinegar in the pressure canner. 

And finally: sweet potato tots! I based it off of this recipe with the following alterations: 

- I didn't have brown rice flour, so I used wheat flour. 

- It was REALLY dry after i added the flour, so I added and egg, which made it too watery I think. 

- I cooked them way longer, because of the wateriness. (50 minutes) 

They're all right, but I think I would much rather use a recipe that starts with uncooked sweet potatoes next time, because the texture is really mushy. 

I also roasted and froze a bunch of squashes, since we're leaving for Thanksgiving soon. It was a big cooking day. Looking forward to making au gratin potatoes at Magle Thanksgiving this year. 

P.S. CRAP! I just discovered a drawer full of parsnips and kale that I don't know I will get to before we leave. bummer!