Stew-- a long time in coming

We've been screwing around with this recipe for quite a while now, and we've got something that we think works.  Still, we're probably going to keep screwing around with it, and we recommend you screw around with it, too.  So far, it's been kind of a catch-all of whatever we've got in the house and need to get rid of (and is reasonable to put into this stew).

Hearty Veggie Stew

Ingredients:

• 1 full container (16oz) Veggie broth (you can make this from Better Than Bullion, or use meaty broth if you choose). 
• 2 Corn Cobs (With Corn)
• 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
• 1 Full Onion, sliced (red or yellow)
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 Tsp Thyme
• 3-5 medium to large potatoes, cut into small (~1/2 in) cubes.
• 2-4 carrots, sliced
• A bunch of green beans, cut in half
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1/2 cup milk
• Some kale, chopped, if you're brave (and the most nutrition-conscious person ever!)
• 1/4 cup Barley

Directions:  Cut all the corn off of the cob, and save it in a bowl for later.  Put the Veggie Broth and the remaining cob into a pot and let simmer on the stove for 20-30 minutes.  This will help to thicken up the broth.  In the mean time, place the olive oil, onion, garlic, and 1/2 tsp thyme in a pan and turn the burner on low.  Gently saute the mixture until it becomes fragrant (slow sauteing will release the flavors to mix with the broth later.  Cooking on high will lock the flavors into these bits, making them very flavorful when you find them in the stew, but not letting the rest of the stew enjoy their flavors).  Turn the crock-pot on high, and combine the following in it:  The Broth (minus the cobs), the sauted mix, the potatoes, the carrots, the green beans, the pepper, the milk, and the remaining 1/2tsp Thyme.  Mix it all well, and let the mixture stew for 1 hour (you can mix occasionally if you like).  After an hour, switch the heat to low and add the saved corn.  Let stew for another hour, then add the Barley (and chopped kale!), and let the mixture stew for 30-45 minutes.  Serve with some freakin' delicious bread.

Your mileage may vary.  You can probably stew the mix for longer before adding the barley and kale, but you should be careful about adding those two if you still have a long time until eating.  Too much time can make them really soggy.

Aunt Shelly's Salsa

We got this recipe from my aunt during a family reunion this past summer.  While I'd like to forget the sleepless nights in a house full of 20-something people and a few infants, the food I'd like to remember!  This recipe is pretty easy, and has been a crowd-pleaser so far.

Salsa

Ingredients:

• 3 cans of stewed tomatoes (drained)
• 1/2 medium onion
• 2 cups cilantro
• 2 Tbs Garlic Salt
• Jalepeno to taste

Directions:  Combine it in a food processor, blend it slightly (you still want some tomato chunks!), serve with delicious mexican food.

Now, we traded out the garlic salt for actual garlic (2 tbs), and then just added a pinch of salt (because sodium is a flavor enhancer).  We also use a pretty small Jalapeno.  We do *not* recommend substituting the jalapeno with Sriracha sauce or chili sauce.  It's just not the same

Beer Bread!

So, I don't usually care for Yeast Juice. I can have it now and then, and I'm starting to learn to appreciate the complexity of the tastes and all that... but if I want to get inerbriated, Yeast Juice isn't usually my first choice. Also, I'm a giant Nancy Boy who wouldn't know a good taste if it punched me in the ovaries. Or so my college friends tell me.

But I've found an awesome use for Beer. Beer Bread. The recipe below doesn't produce quite the awesome deliciousness that I remember my mom making with the Pampered Chef Beer Bread Mix, but this is a much cheaper way to go about it (and is still pretty damned good).

Beer Bread

Ingredients

• 3 cups flour (Sifted, if your flour is pretty densely-packed)
• 3 teaspoons ( = 1 tablespoon) Baking Powder (NOT Baking Soda)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 - 1/3 cup white sugar
• 1-2 tablespoons butter (optional)
• 12 ounce bottle of beer (of your choice)
  

Directions: This is pretty simple. Preheat the oven to ~375*F. Mix all of the dry ingredients in a bowl, pour the beer in, and mix the hell out of it until it's a smooth, homogenous mix. If desired, melt the butter and mix it into the bread (it will affect the flavor and consistency slightly, but is not very noticeable). Pour the mixture into a greased 5x9 baking dish, place it on the preheating oven, and let rise for ~30-~40 minutes. After rising, if desired melt the butter and pour over the top of the liquidy dough (putting the butter on top will give a crunchier top to the bread as well as affect the flavor a bit. This can really add some variety to the texture). Bake at 375*F for 50-60 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for at least 15 minutes (the longer you wait, the less crumbly your bread will be).

This recipe is especially tasty with a thin layer of butter spread across the bread. It's got a nice sweet and savory flavor to it. Plus, you're making bread from scratch and its very easy. So you've gotta feel self-sufficient (and manly, since you're using yeast juice).

This recipe is really versitile, too! If you've got a beer that compliments it well (a Lager or Ale, I think? Don't take my word on that...), you can mix ~1/2 cup of shredded cheese into the batter before rising, then top the bread with some more shredded cheese before baking for a nice cheesy bread (it's a little bit greasy, though...). I've also made a yummy dessert-type beer bread by using "Wild Blue" Blueberry Lager and mixing 1/2 cup blueberries into the batter.

Experiment with the recipe, and enjoy!

Homemade Biscuit

• 1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon white sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons and 1-1/2 teaspoons vegetable oil
TO MAKE BUTTERMILK BISCUITS:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Lightly grease two baking sheets, or line the sheets with parchment paper. Combine ~1.25 cups biscuit mix, 1/3 cup buttermilk, and a pinch of salt (optional). Stir together to form a soft dough. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead briefly, about 10 times. Cut dough into 6 equal pieces and place on prepared baking sheets. Brush tops of biscuits with milk or egg wash, if desired. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until light brown.

How to make buttermilk:
1/3 cup milk, 1 tsp vinegar or lemon juice. Let sit for 2-3 minutes.

This was a very simple, quick, cheap, and *tasty* recipe! The biscuits were very flavorful (we didn't even brush the top of the biscuits with milk or egg wash, whatever the hell that is). We used the recipe for Biscuits and Gravy, but I think that these could just as easily serve as dinner biscuits.

Go forth and make home-made food from near-scratch!

Mac and Cheese

I was really, really surprised at how well this turned out, especially considering how some of our other mac-and-cheese attempts came out (As my wife tells me: we're never going to try a mac and cheese recipe from a lowfat cookbook again...). It's got some weird ingredients, but bear with it!

Quick and Creamy Mac-and-cheese
Ingredients:

• 16 ounces uncooked pasta (of your choice... but everyone knows that the shells are the best, and elbow macaroni is a distant second)
• 12 ounces of Butternut Squash (Trust us! Gives a great color and texture, plus lots of nutritious benefits! Also, see my note below.)
• 12 ounces evaporated milk
• 2 cups shredded six-cheese Italian blend (feel free to substitute other types of cheeses or mixes here. I suspect that the exact variety isn't particularly important.)

**Edit** Actually, Bryan is wrong here. Italian cheese blends require smaller quantities to lend assertive cheese taste. Any Italian cheese blend can be used, but if you change cheese types (to cheddar, etc) you will have to change quantities to make a good amount of cheesy flavor.

• 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp salt

Directions: Cook the pasta according to the package instructions. When you strain the pasta, reserve 1/4 a cup of the water (this probably isn't super-important, and you could replace this with 1/4 cup hot water-- especially if you have a plastic measuring cup that will crack when you pour boiling water in it.); Put squash in a saucepan, and gradually add the milk, whisking (or otherwise thoroughly mixing) the two. Cook until the mixture begins to simmer (should take ~3:30 min), then reduce heat to medium. Add all the cheese. Mix it until it's a melted near-homogenous mix. Stir in salt, nutmeg, and the 1/4 cup of water you kept from cooking the pasta. Pour over pasta and serve.


Now, if you're weird, you can add more nutmeg on top of the mac and cheese, but that's just gross.

Gotta admit. While this tasted pretty freakin' good and was super-low in sodium (compared to Kraft), the texture was a little bit grainy. We used whole grain pasta, so maybe that was part of it. I think that it was probably the squash that was responsible, though. You might want to consider really liquifying it in a food processor before mixing it with the evaporated milk.


On making the squash.

• You can buy this frozen at the store, ready to go. Just make sure you thaw it. This will increase the sodium content.
• If you get a butternut squash from the farmer's market you can make the squash from scratch (which can be used for a lot of recipes!). Just cut it in half, gut out the seeds and strings, place face-down on a baking tray, and bake for ~40 minutes at ~400*F. Once done, scoop the squash (not the skin) into a food processor or blender and mix it until smooth (add a little water, if necessary).

And I think that's about it! The recipe makes quite a lot, so if you're cooking for few, you might want to cut it in half.

Idea: I mixed this into some veg chili and it was awesome.

Guacamole

Awright.  So, Avocados are supposed to increase sex drive.  Pay attention.

Guacamole
Ingredients:

• 1 clove garlic,cut
• 1 large ripe avocado, pitted
• .5g or 1/4 tsp chili powder
• 5mL or 1tsp lemon juice
• 5.5g or 2 tsp minced onion
• sour cream
• Corn Chips or tostadas
• Salt

Directions:  Sprinkle your mixing bowl with salt and rub the garlic around on it.  In the bowl, mash the avocado (MASH!!!) and season with 1/4 tsp salt, chili powder, and lemon juice. Stir in the onion.  Mix well.  Cover with a thin layer of sour cream to avoid browning.  Just before serving, mix well, and serve with delicious Mexican food.

Avocados are particularly succeptible to Enzymatic Browning when they're exposed to the air (all the enzymes in the avocado will start breaking down the yummy and nutritious and sex-inducing chemicals and turn it into something that looks like poop-in-a-bowl).  So covering it with sour cream (or eating it quickly) is *very* important.

Also, you can spice this up, if you'd like, by mixing in some of the fleshy (not watery) parts of tomatoes, olives, or bacon.  But personally, the fascination with bacon in everything always seemed a little gross to me.

Also, you are required to watch this video:

Creamy One Pot Pasta

4 garlic cloves, peeled
1 jar sun-dried tomatoes in oil, undrained (7oz)
3 cans (5.25 cups) vegetable broth
1lbs uncooked penne pasta
2 cups broccoli
2 medium carrots
2oz reduced-fat cream cheese
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp salt

Grated Parmesan cheese and snipped fresh basil leaves - optional.

Mince garlic and add to large pot. Add 1 TBPS of sun dried tomato oil. Cook over medium heat 2-3 mins or until garlic is golden brown. Remove from heat, add broth, bring to boil. Add pasta, cover and simmer 8-10 minutes or until pasta is almost cooked.

Cut broccoli into small florets, cut carrots half lengthwise, then thinly slice. Drain tomatoes, pat dry, and slice into strips.

Separate cream cheese into smaller portions Add vegetables, cream cheese, pepper, and salt. Stir until cream cheese is melted. Reduce heat and cook until vegetables are tender, 2-4 minutes. Top with Parmesan cheese and basil.

** I would also wait for this to cool for 10 minutes before serving because it helps the broth and cream cheese to mix and solidify together and give a better texture and less watery-stuff at the bottom of the pan. I would also DOUBLE the vegetables, but then again, I did going to school for nutrition - we nerds love our veggies.
We used frozen broccoli because we had it on hand and this helped make the process faster.

We also used sun dried tomatoes not in oil this time because we had them and they are way cheaper. I think it does affect the flavor a little, but not that much. Not $5 worth.


ALSO - using something like better than bouillon or Williams West -Witt's Products Vegetables broth, will save a ton of money and space. It's concentrated and SO much cheaper than buying broth already at a liquid. It can be $5 for 4 cups, or $5 for 40 cups! Also, the already made broth has to be used within 7 days and the concentrate is good for a very long time!

I'd love to hear your feedback!