Real Butter

So, in trying to eat a less processed diet we tried switching from margarine (which is vegetable oil based but has trans fats) to whipped butter (which has saturated fat but less than regular butter because it has more air in it than regular butter)

We learned that cooking with REAL butter (or whipped butter) when doing things like gravies, pastries etc, makes a HUGE difference. In my biscuits and gravy recipe I used to use margarine and flour to make a rou and it took forEVER to get it to mix in with the milk. When I used real butter it was almost INSTANT!

So, for those of you trying to fight the good (health) fight. For cooking, and for your health, real butter may actually be better...

Thai, Bad Mac&Cheese, B&G variation, Sandwich, Pizza

So, there are some other foods we've cooked that we haven't been able to post for one reason or another.

Recently we made the yellow curry - the cooking was fine! Finding the ingredients was HORRIFIC! Trips to several Asian marts, specialty grocers, and a lot of googling for substitutes we started with this:

This vegetable curry can be made as a side dish, or as the star player. Either way, this Thai yellow curry is super healthy with its homemade combination of fresh herbs and spices (no packaged curry paste used here), plus an array of vegetables such as bok choy, broccoli, snow peas, eggplant - or whatever greens happen to be in season where you live. So head out to the market, pick up some fresh veggies, and cook up this easy Thai yellow curry for a truly healthy and taste-sensational treat!

Prep Time: 25 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes

Ingredients:

• YELLOW CURRY SAUCE:
• 1-2 cans good-quality coconut milk (see instructions)
• 1/2 tsp. fenugreek***
• 1 tsp. ground coriander
• 1 tsp. black mustard seeds***
• 1-2 yellow chilies, OR green or red chilies, de-seeded (or leave seeds in for a spicer curry)
• 1 Tbsp. ground cumin
• 3/4 tsp. turmeric, dried, OR 1 thumb-size piece fresh turmeric, peeled and sliced
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 thumb-size piece galangal OR ginger, peeled and sliced
• 1 stalk lemongrass, sliced thinly, OR 2 Tbsp. frozen prepared lemongrass (see below for more on lemongrass)
• 1/2 onion
• 3 Tbsp. vegetarian fish sauce (or regular fish sauce) OR 4 Tbsp. soy sauce***
• 1/2 cup fresh coriander, including the stems
• 2 Tbsp. brown sugar
• juice of 1/2 lime
• 2-3 kaffir lime leaves, fresh or frozen (find these at Asian food stores), and cut into strips
• VEGETABLES (choose from the following, or add your own combination):
• 1 can fava beans, broad beans, OR chick peas
• approximately 2 cups bok choy, baby bok choy, or Chinese cabbage, chopped
• 4-6 shiitake mushroom, sliced
• 1 yellow bell pepper, sliced
• 1 large carrot, sliced
• 1 cup broccoli
• 1 cup cauliflower
• 1/2 to 1 cup fresh basil to finish the dish, roughly chopped if the leaves are large

Preparation:

For more on how to buy and prepare lemongrass, see: Buying and Preparing Lemongrass.

1. Place 1/2 can of the coconut milk (reserve the rest for later) plus all other sauce ingredients in a food processor. Process well. You now have a homemade yellow curry paste.
2. Place 1-2 Tbsp. oil in a wok or large frying pan over medium to high heat. Add the curry paste and gently stir-fry for 1 minute, or until fragrant.
3. Add the other 1/2 can of coconut milk and stir. Now add those vegetables that require the longest cooking time, such as the carrots, mushrooms and cauliflower. Stir well and bring to a simmering boil. Turn down heat to medium, cover, and cook for 5-10 minutes.
4. Depending on how much sauce you prefer, plus how many vegetables you are cooking, add 1/2 to 1 can more coconut milk. Then add the rest of the vegetables. Stir well and cover, allowing to cook for another 5 minutes (Note: add the bok choy/Chinese cabbage last, as these only take a minute or two, and you want them still slightly crunchy).
5. Remove from heat and do a taste test. Add more salt or fish sauce/soy sauce if not salty enough. If the sauce is too bitter, add 1-2 Tbsp. more brown sugar. If it's too sweet, add more lime juice.
6. Sprinkle the curry with fresh basil and serve with plenty of Thai jasmine-scented rice (white or brown). This dish also works well served with white or whole-grain couscous, or white/whole-grain basmati rice. ENJOY!

And ended up changing all this:

We couldn't find fenugreek, and a good replacement is yellow mustard seeds. We couldn't find yellow OR black mustard seeds, so we just put in brown mustards seeds for the black and left out the fenugreek/yellow mustard seeds.
We started out using 1 can coconut oil, but after we added a yellow chilie (also a challenge to find) it was pretty hot so we added the second can of coconut milk.
We also used tamari soy sauce because it is a less salty smoother variant of soy sauce.
We added tofu, and our vegetables were red potatoes and carrots because that is what is currently in season.
Also we learned that coriander is cilantro - just depends on what your from!
We also haven't found another use for the lemongrass yet so the other half the package is wasting away in our fridge.

The food was good and we served it on Indian Basmati Rice.


We have also made
Mac&Cheese with vegetables.
Advice - Don't get a Mac&Cheese recipe from a low fat cook book.

Stew - quite similar to our casserole except in a crock pot and we also added Kale and vegetable broth. It was also really good and got even better the more days it sitting in the fridge.

Tacos were our first meal we cooked here, but that was pretty standard.
Advice: don't add taco bell seasoning spice to taco bell canned refried beans.

Biscuits and Gravy with GimmeLean sausage. - It doesn't work quite the same at adding texture to the dish as the morningstar crumbles do.

Flatbread+Peppers+Hummus+Provolone. Good, even better when the peppers are heated up first and melt the cheese.

Pizza - we got the crust from Plum Market, a local grocery store, and it was AWESOME!!! WAY better than any pizza crust we've made.

So, that's what we've been up to.
How are you all?

Good Ole Casserole

I looked over a bunch of casserole recipes and decided that I could make one with the food we had.  The result was an absolutely delicious meal with an earthy texture.

• 1 can cream of mushroom soup with roasted garlic
• 1 can milk
• Bunch of green Beans (2-3 cups, cut into thirds)
• bunch of red potatos (1-2 cups, cut into 1/2 inch cubes)
• A few stalks green onions (we used about 5, cut into ~1/2 inch portions)
• Cheddar Cheese
• French's onions
• Quorn Chicken Substitute (3 cutlets, cut into ~1-inch cubes.  Alternatively, use a breast or two of cooked chicken)
• 1/2 tsppeper
• 1/4 teaspoon Salt (we used Lowry's season salt)
• 1/4 teaspoon Garlic Powder
• Side of delicious bread with butter

Preheat Oven to 350.

Steam the green beans for about 5-10 minutes (taste-test them now and again).  They should be not-quite-fully-soft when you take them out of the steamer.  Alternatively, if you don't have a steamer (they're only a few dollars!  They make cooking veggies vastly quicker and preserve a LOT of the nutrients that you lose in boiling!), you can use a can of Green Beans.

Cut the potatoes, green onions, and chicken-ish stuff.  Place all veggies into your pan, add the cream of mushroom and can of milk (I usually make sure to swoosh the milk around in the can to try and get ALL of the soup out).  Thoroughly mix all the ingredients together in the pan. 

Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 20 minutes.  Remove cover, add cheese and French's Onions, and bake for another 5 minutes.  Remove from oven and allow to cool.  Sometimes, the onions can get soggy during baking, so some might prefer to add the French's onions after baking is finished.

It was freakin' great, and we had to fight over who got the leftovers.  :)  We were able to buy most of the ingredients (save the cream of mushroom and French's onions, of course) locally.  And the best part is that it really didn't require a lot of cooking attention compared to, say, the Yellow Curry we made a few days ago!