Bountiful Baskets

Another great week of Bountiful Baskets, hopefully we will be doing this nearly every week.

This week I received
1. Peaches ( a bunch)
2. 5 Yellow Mangoes
3. A whole bunch of little Limes
4. A Mini Watermelon
5. A butternut Squash
6. A 1lb bag of mini carrots
7. 2 Tomatoes
8. 1 - 3lb bag of Rome apples (plus 3 more)
9. 1 Bunch Bananas
10. 2 heads Romaine Lettuce
11. 6 Ears Corn
12. Brusslesprouts (a big bag) and I actually scored another because a lady there didn't want hers! yay!

I'll post an apple pie recipe sometime this week!
Don't forget to check out www.bountifulbaskets.org

Have a great day and God Bless

Food Inc. Yikes!

Well can I tell you what I did last night?

Hubby was at the Diamondbacks game with a friend so after I put Lucy girl down for bed I popped a bag of popcorn, grabbed a beer and sat down to watch Food Inc. on my laptop via PBS (thank you very much PBS).


I had wanted to see this for quite some time but just hadn't gotten around to it, the Library didn't have it and I just never got around to renting it. I'm glad that I've seen it now.

I'd say as a whole we are fairly conscience about the food decisions we make, but I have to say I will likely be more so after seeing this movie.

Here are some of my thoughts...you don't have to agree, but I'm going to put them out there.

***Since it is so hard to find good research confirming or denying the claims of the movie that come from impartial sources; know that much of this is coming from Food Inc.***

High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS)- We decided close to a year ago to try to not buy HFCS containing products. THIS IS SO HARD! HFCS is in SO many things. Also, companies try to get around people avoiding their product by only having Corn Syrup rather that HFCS. We also try to stay away from these.
Next time you are in your normal grocery store (not health food store) try to find a brand of Raisin Bran that does not have HFCS or Corn Syrup, I've found it impossible.

This is not to say that I don't have it every once in a while (soda, etc) but as a whole the decisions we make do not include HFCS.

Sign a petition to get Congress to tax foods/beverages that contain HFCS to make ones that do not contain it more affordable HERE.

Soy- We also try to avoid Soy as much as possible, but again it is in SO many things you can buy at the grocery store. There have been numerous studies over the years saying that Soy may not be as good for us as we first believed. Again due to the fact that there are varying opinions, I urge you to check it out for yourself.

In the movie it talked about one particular company (which I will not name purely because thought I'm just a minuscule blogger, I don't want them after me) who has patented a particular type of soybean (that is Genetically Modified) and that is now close to 90% of soy on the market. WHOA!

Who knew you could patent food. Surely I didn't.

Meat/Poultry/Fish-I have to tell you I'm a meat eater. I like meat, I don't believe I could give it up. I like it, a lot. But, I have to tell you I was pretty disgusted to learn that there are hardly any farms that allow their cattle, poultry, hogs etc to eat anything but corn.

The conditions that chickens, cattle and hogs are subjected to is frankly, gross.

One company in the movie has made an ammonia based food additive to be added to hamburger to help stop the spread of things like E. Coli. Ammonia?

Food Inc. said if you allowed a cow to eat grass instead of corn for 5 days they would shed 80% of the E. Coli in their bodies....no ammonia needed there.

Also, Farm raised Tilapia/Salmon is now being fed corn! *Scratches head, a fish eating corn, hmmm*

In the film it talked about how corn is subsidized by the government, it costs less for meat companies to purchase corn than it does for farmer's to grow it due to the subsidization. Perhaps I'm a bit old school but I can't fathom why we are subsidizing this? *Bites tongue*

I will say after seeing this movie there will be certain companies I will not be supporting, Sprouts will be getting much more of my business when it comes to meat/poultry/fish.



My heart broke and I broke down in tears when the movie told the story of the 2.5 year old boy who died of a certain strain of E. Coli after eating an infected hamburger. He died 12 days later. His mother is now an advocate of regulating plants and sanctioning them/shutting them down if they continually fail safety standard testing. Support Kevin's Law HERE.

I could go on and on, but, I won't. Go back up to the top of the page and click on Food Inc. and watch it for yourself.

Here are some things you can do!
1. Buy Local /support Famer's Markets
2. Buy what is in season (Clicky)
3. Choose foods without HFCS/Soy
4. Buy Grass fed Beef/ Cage free Eggs
5. Pay more attention to what you put in your bodies, God only gave us one and he told us it is our Temple, take care of it.

Have a great day and God Bless!

Sweet and Sour Swiss Chard

I used up the last bunch of our Swiss Chard from Bountiful Baskets Food Co-op. I think I like this recipe more than the Sauteed Swiss Chard I made earlier.

I adapted it from HERE.

I didn't have any raisins in the house (we usually do!) so I had to omit those, I think they would have been great, but I didn't miss them.

Ingredients

1 Bunch Swiss Chard- stems chopped / leaves chopped (separate the two)
1 Medium onion Diced
Pinch of Salt
2 Tbsp Butter
2 Tbsp Canola oil
3 Tbsp White Vinegar
3 Cloves Garlic
1 1/2 tsp Sugar
1/4 Cup Raisins ( I didn't add)

Start by adding the butter and canola oil to a pan that you have a lid for. Heat on medium high then add diced onion and a pinch of salt and cook until they just start to brown.

***note to self, reset your camera back so that you can take better pictures :( ***

Then add all other ingredients BESIDES the Swiss Chard leaves.

Cover and cook over Medium or Medium high heat for 8 minutes.

Then add the Swiss Chard Leaves but do NOT stir. Cover and let steam for 3-4 minutes.

Mix around and serve!

This turned out very well, I actually think that it could have used a bit more of a kick (more vinegar). But it balanced out the Swiss Chard nicely, I would like to make it again with the raisins I think they would really be nice with this.

I'm so excited that I get to try new recipes because of Bountiful Baskets!

Have a great day and God Bless!

Sauteed Swiss Chard Recipe

So I told you yesterday about Bountiful Baskets Food Co-Op. I hope you checked them out!

Since there were two bunches Swiss Chard and I had never had it before I looked up a recipe on Simply Recipes. com. I made something similar to THIS recipe.

Ingredients

• 1 large bunch of fresh Swiss chard
• 1 small clove garlic, sliced (I used 1 tbsp chopped)
  
• 2 Tbsp olive oil (I used enough to coat the pan)
• 2 Tbsp water
• Pinch of dried crushed red pepper (I used about 2 pinches)
• 1 teaspoon butter (I used 1 tbsp)
• Salt

First I cut off the hard ribbed part of the Swiss Chard (this is the very red part) it was about 1/4-1/3 of the whole piece. Then I chopped it into smaller pieces.

In a sautee pan I put enough canola oil in to lightly cover the bottom and heated it over a medium heat.

After it was warm I added about a tablespoon of chopped garlic and about 2 pinches crushed red pepper. I let this sautee for about 1 minute.
Then I added all of the Swiss Chard, covered it and cooked it for 5 minutes.
After it had cooked covered for 5 minutes, I flipped it over, added a few tablespoons of water, covered it and cooked it for 5 more minutes.

Then I dished it up and we had it with Hamburgers and Garlic Toast for dinner.
It was pretty good, it had a buttery spinach flavor to it. Not something I'd put on my top 3 list but it is definitely something I would eat again.

If anyone has another recipe, I have 1 more bunch to use up!

Have a great day and God Bless!

Bountiful Baskets

Here is one way you can:
1. Eat healthy
2. Save Money
3. Save yourself a trip to the store!
4. Try foods you wouldn't normally try
5. Support local or small farms

You can order a basket from Bountiful Baskets Food Co-op!
I've been wanting to do this for a while now but somehow when they open up ordering in AZ from Tuesday-Wednesday I could never seem to remember. But this week I did.

How it works is you go to their website on the days that they open ordering for your state (AZ is Tuesday-Wednesday).
You place your basket order and anything else you would like, sometimes they sell bread, Italian packs, Mexican packs etc.
Then you choose where you want to pick it up (In AZ it is on Saturdays) They are almost always at a local park.
On that day you go at the time they say and you pick up your basket(s) of yummy produce!

This is what I got on Saturday!

I received for $19.50 (since it was my first basket, it is usually $16.50)
2 heads Romaine Lettuce
1 pint Grape Tomatoes
2 lbs of Carrots
6 Bananas
1 Pineapple
2 Packages Blackberries
1 Melon (I'm not sure what kind yet)
1 Package Mushrooms
3 Crowns of Broccoli
A few lbs of Red Potatoes
2 Bunches Swiss Chard

That's a lot of food- I'm trying to decide whether it would cost me that much at sprouts and I think it is about equal. The nice thing is I'm supporting local/small farms which I love AND I get to try new foods. Be sure to check out TOMORROW'S post for a Swiss Chard Recipe!

Bonus is all of these fruit/vegetables look amazing! We had some Blackberries and Romaine on Saturday and they were delicious.

So if you live in Utah, Arizona, Idaho or Nevada (I believe) check out Bountiful Baskets Food Co-op at the link below. If you live in another state, Google Food Co-ops and see if there is anything similar for you to try out.

It will be healthy for you and your family and it will save you some money. Plus, you are supporting US (and Mexican) farms!

This is their website Bountiful Baskets Food Co-op
You can also check out their Facebook Page

Have a great day and God Bless!

Chicken and Summer Vegetable Pasta with Lemon Garlic Cream Sauce

Ingredients
2 Zuccini's Quartered and sliced
2 Yellow squash Quartered and Sliced
1/4 Onion, chopped
2 Boneless skinless Chicken breasts-cut into bite sized pieces
1 Bag Pasta
1/2 Stick Butter
3 Tbsp+ 2 Tbsp Canola Oil
1/2 Cup Sour Cream
1/2-3/4 Cup Milk
1/3 Cup Parmesan Cheese
2 Cloves Garlic- Minced
Zest of 1 lemon
Juice of 1 lemon
Salt and Pepper to taste

MMMMMMmmmmmm this turned out wonderfully. It was just something I threw together after seeing The Pioneer Woman 's baked Lemon pasta dish. Mine isn't much like her's but I feel like I should say that seeing that inspired me to make my own.

Hubby absolutely loved this, he gave it the highest rating of anything so far. He couldn't stop commenting on how good it was. It makes a wife feel good for sure, I'm glad God paired the two of us together.

So first things first. Chop up your chicken into bite sized pieces. While you are doing that warm up a big skillet over medium high heat and put your 3 Tbsp canola oil in there.
Transfer your chicken pieces and salt and pepper generously. Cook for about 3-5 minutes each side or until cooked through and then remove and put in a bowl for later.

While your chicken is cooking cut up your zucc's and squash, I sliced and quartered them because I wanted them to be small-ish. I had some leftover onion chopped up from the other night so I used that too (but it was only about 1/4 cup).

Take your pan that is now over medium heat add your butter and 2 Tbsp canola oil. Once combined add everything you have chopped. Toss around so that it is coated and cook for 10 minutes or until they are tender.

Mince 2 cloves garlic and zest 1 lemon. Add this in at the end of the cooking of the zucchini and squash and cook together while you make the sauce.

In a pot combine sour cream, milk, parmesan cheese and the juice of one lemon. Add the chicken back in and cook over medium heat to warm.

Once it is warm combine the pan of veggies to the sauce.

Ladel over cooked pasta and enjoy! Yum!

Have a great Monday and God Bless!

Broccoli Slaw (or the best stuff EVER)

Let me just tell you, oh.my.goodness. This is phenomenal. I'm SO glad I made a double batch! I was perusing Smitten Kitchen's website and found being pregnant is causing her to crave broccoli so she made THIS recipe. There really wasn't much need for me to make adjustments but I will note them in Red. Also remember I doubled her recipe, I'm going to post those as well.

2 heads of broccoli ( I used 4 medium to large broccoli heads)
1/2 cup thinly sliced almonds, toasted ( I used 1 cup Dry Roasted sunflower kernels)
1/3 cup dried cranberries ( 2/3 cup)
1/2 small red onion, finely chopped (3/4 medium onion, minced)

Buttermilk Dressing
1/2 cup buttermilk, well-shaken (I used 1 cup whole milk, plus 2 tbsp white vinegar)
1/3 cup mayonnaise (I used 2/3 Cup)
2 tablespoons cider vinegar (I used the same, whoops)
1 tablespoon sugar ( I used the same)
3 tablespoons finely chopped shallot (I didn't add more than the 3/4 from above)

Salt and Pepper to taste

First off I HATE doing dishes, yuck! So I always try to use as few as possible. So I made the dressing first.

Put your mayo in the bottom of a big bowl ( I used a cute tupperware one, so I could put it all in the fridge, and covered later).

In a pyrex measuring cup, measure your milk and vinegar (or buttermilk if you are way cooler than me) and let it set for a few minutes.

Then pour that into the bowl with the mayo, add the sugar and cider vinegar, salt and pepper and whisk until smooth.

Now take your broccoli and slice them off just where it starts to stem to each piece. Then I just cut off the floret cut it in half (or thirds depending how big it was), cut the stem in half and threw them into the dressing mixture. Repeat until you've cut all of that yummy goodness up (Did you know broccoli is a good source of calcium?). Broccoli is my favorite veggie. If you couldn't tell.

Cut up your onion, mince it. Throw it in.

Now measure out 1 Cup Sunflower Kernels (oh man this was a great substitute in my book)

Then 2/3 Cup Cranberries.

Now grab your salad fork and spoon and mix, making sure to coat everything.

Then I covered it and put it in the fridge for an hour so it was nice and cold.

This was all I could have wanted and more, sweet, tangy, fairly good for you, with tons of broccoli. Let me suggest trying it with the sunflower kernels, mmmm.

Have a great day and God Bless!

Sauteed Garlic Zucchini and Squash

Ingredients
2 Medium Zucchini's
2 Medium Yellow Squash
2 Cloves Garlic Minced
2 Tbsp + 1 Tbsp Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper to taste

So I went to the store on Monday as usual and these yummy veggies were on sale $1/lb. So I picked up about 4 each just to break up the monotony of life at my house. Where we eat lots of salad and lots of broccoli. Both of which I love, but boring.

Wash your veggies.

Warm up a big pan to medium high heat.

Now slice them about 1/2 inch thick. Put them in a bowl and toss with 2 Tbsp Olive Oil.

Put them in the pan and salt and pepper them. Don't be afraid to put a pretty good amount in.

Sautee them, flipping occasionally for about 5-8 minutes. Then in the last 2-4 minutes add your minced garlic. You want it to get sweet. But not bitter.

Cover them for the last few minutes so they steam a bit.

mmmm this was just right. And tomorrow I'll post a Broccoli Slaw that will knock your flip flops off!

Have a great day and God Bless!

How to Blanche Broccoli

How to Blanche Broccoli ....or any vegetable for that matter.

This is such an easy thing to do and produces wonderfully tender yet crisp vegetables.

This will also help to keep many of the vitamins and minerals in the vegetables, which is part of what we are looking for right?

Ok now you will probably think that I'm weird after I type this but broccoli is one of my favorite foods, it's definitely in my top 10. I could eat it almost every day. Not. Kidding. I love it. Ok, now onto the cooking.

Start with a medium sized pot filled halfway to two-thirds with water. Add some salt, about 1 tsp.

Now, cover and allow to boil, and I mean boil, hard. So walk away and come back when you hear the steam. This is not the kind where you push down on the lid to get it to boil quicker. This is a nice rolling boil. It should look like this.


Now before it gets to that beautiful boil, take your broccoli and cut it into florets. if there are some bigger ones and you would like them smaller then just cut them in half. It's really up to you. These are mine.

Now, it's time to put them into the water. Just drop them in and push them down so that they are all in the water. Since that's what's cooking it you are going to need to get it all covered.

Now cook for only 1-2 minutes. No more. You don't want the water to turn green which means that all of those wonderful vitamins and minerals are escaping into the water that you will throw away. And that is bad. You can tell when it is time to take them out when they turn a vibrant green.

Then, remove them from the heat and pour into strainer. Shake off excess water.

To finish, I usually just top with Salt and Pepper. Or with some butter depending on my mood.

Have a great day and God Bless!

Peppery Sausage Casserole

Usually most of my creations just come from my brain, on a whim or me looking at ingredients and trying to figure out something new to do with them. This is one of those brain-childs.

Ingredients
1 Package Hot Turkey Sausage, casings removed (do this while it's still not completely thawed)
1 1/2 cups Rice (not quick cook) I used long grain
1/3 Cup + 1/2 Cup Banana Pepper Juice
1/2 Bag Frozen Peppers/Onion Mix (or 1 1/2 Bell Pepper Sliced)
1/2 Onion Sliced
1/2 tsp Red Pepper Flakes
1/2 tsp Black pepper

Servings: 4

Heat a large skillet over medium to medium high heat. Take your sausage and slice through the casing longways and remove meat from the casing. Place it in the pan still in link form. Do this for all 5 links.

In the mean time start to cook your rice, follow the directions for making 1 1/2 cups rice (which for me was 3 cups water) I used 2 1/2 cups water and 1/2 cup Banana pepper juice. But I think the rice was a touch too salty so I'd drop it down to 1/3 cup Banana pepper juice and 2 2/3 cup water.

Cook rice as you normally would, it will have a yellowy-greenish color. That's ok, banana peppers are that color!

My inspiration- Mild pepper rings (well the juice anyways)

Chop onion and add it to your pan as well as your peppers/onion mix. Add black pepper and red pepper flakes and cook, stirring occasionally until meat is cooked through and all vegetables are tender. As the cooking time ends add 1/3 cup of the Banana Pepper juice to the pan and allow it to incorporate.

When everything is finished cooking just combine in your rice pan and enjoy a nice big bowl.

I thought this was really good, but like I said I thought a touch too salty. That being said hubby loved it (he loves salty food) and said it was perfect.

So if you have some leftover pepper juice that you don't want to throw away, give this a try, you won't be dissapointed!

Have a great day and God Bless!

Chicken with Peppers, Olives and Onions

Ingredients
2 Chicken Breasts, sliced into strips
1 Green Bell pepper, sliced into strips
1 Medium Onion, sliced into strips
1/2 Can Black Olives, slivered
1 clove Garlic, minced
Salt and Pepper to taste
Oil

Serves 2

Heat a Grill Pan or Sautee Pan on Medium High Heat. Salt and Pepper Chicken and toss with oil.
Add to pan and cook for 6-8 minutes each side until cooked through.

In another pan over medium heat, add 3 Tbsp oil, then add peppers and onions. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally until onions become translucent. Add garlic and olives and cook for another 2 minutes until garlic becomes pungent and sweet smelling.

Spoon vegetables over chicken and enjoy.

We really liked how the vegetables turned out, they were sweet and garlicky but the garlic was pungent and really went well with the black olives. The pepper was a nice balance.

God Bless!

Penne with Garlic Tomato Butter Sauce

Ingredients
1 Package Penne Pasta (I used bowties as well)
2 cloves garlic minced
3 Tomatoes chopped (I would have used about 5 but didn't have that many) or 2 cans
1 Can Cannellini Beans Drained
1 Bunch Asparagus- Chopped into pieces
1/3 Cup Parmesan Cheese
8 Tbsp Butter Melted
2 Tbsp Oil
Salt and Pepper to taste

Serves: 3 as a meal; 4-6 as a side dish

In a medium pot boil water and cook pasta to desired tenderness.

Chop all vegetables and set aside.

Boil water and blanche asparagus (1.5 minutes), drain.

In a sauce pan, add 2 Tbsp Oil on medium heat. Add tomatoes and garlic to pan, cook for 3 minutes and add cannellini beans. Heat for another 3 minutes. Add asparagus to the pot.


Melt 8 Tbsp Butter, add all vegetables, parmesan cheese and pasta and mix together.

This made me happy when it was cooking, it smelled like Tortellini Paloma from the Family owned Italian Restaurant that I used to work at. This turned out really well and the parmesan cheese had enough bite that it balanced out the sweetness in the butter and tomato garlic mixture. Yum.
Enjoy and God Bless!