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Lentil Taco Stew -- back to top

20140301-200840.jpg

Really nothing special. I made the regular lentiltaco stew. Followed the recipe without really any changes except maybe that I used red onions and went heavy on the zucchini. I also topped it with cheese

Original Wordpress ID and Date: 7536, 2014-03-01_200852



Homebrew 11: Golden Strong Wheat -- back to top

The recipe for this beer is below. It is inspired by Uniboue Don De Dieu (oops, see note 1). I found some what of a clone HERE which I used as a base with a few changes. Most notably, I changed the yeast and I used cane sugar. The yeast I went to is the one from Duvel Brewery which is a classic golden strong.

My plan is to brew it and let it sit in primary for 6-8 weeks (at least 2-3 if not more in the chamber). I will then bottle and condition for another 6-8 weeks. I plan to ferment around 68.

Note 1: I_wanted_to do a Don De Dieu clone but I this recipe clones La Fin Du Monde. Oh well, it shouldn't matter. That is also a good beer.

Recipe

Golden Strong Wheat

Method:

BIAB

Style:

Belgian Golden Strong Ale

Boil Time:

90 min

Batch Size:

1.25 gallons (fermentor volume)

Boil Size:

2.1 gallons

Efficiency:

70% (brew house)

Boil Gravity:

1.039 (recipe based estimate)

Original Gravity:

1.083

Final Gravity:

1.020

ABV (standard):

8.31%

IBU (tinseth):

23.12

SRM (morey):

5.05

Fermentables

Amount

Fermentable

PPG

L

Bill %

2.5 lb

Belgian - Pilsner

37

1.6

69%

8 oz

American - Wheat

38

1.8

13.8%

2 oz

American - Aromatic Malt

35

20

3.4%

8 oz

Cane Sugar - (late addition)

46

0

13.8%

Hops

Amount

Variety

Time

AA

Use

Type

IBU

0.19 oz

Tettnanger

Pellet

4.5

Boil

60 min

14.4

0.19 oz

Tettnanger

Pellet

4.5

Boil

20 min

8.72

Mash Guidelines

Amount

Description

Type

Temp

Time

9.1 qt

Heat all volume to ~155 for 149 mash

Infusion

149 F

90 min

--

Mash out

Temperature

165 F

10 min

Other Ingredients

Amount

Name

Type

Use

Time

0.5 tsp

Coriander

Spice

Boil

5 min

1 tsp

Orange Zest

Spice

Boil

5 min

0.25 tsp

Irish Moss

Fining

Boil

13 min

0.13 tsp

Yeast Nutrient

Other

Boil

13 min

Yeast

Wyeast - Belgian Strong Ale 1388

Attenuation (avg):

76%

Flocculation:

Low

Optimum Temp:

64 - 80 F

Starter:

No

Fermentation Temp:

68 F

Pitch Rate:

-

Notes

Roughly based on: http://justbrewit.net/~dennis/LaDebutDuMonde/

Generated by Brewer's Friend - <http://www.brewersfriend.com/>

Date: 2014-03-03 23:33 UTC

Recipe Last Updated: 2014-03-03 23:32 UTC

2014-03-03Brew Day Notes:

I actually took these on the computer while I was going.

Photos:


This was my new way to squeeze out the bag Orange zest Hop, sugar, spice, etc additions

Fermented at 68F until March 7th (I think). Then cold crashed at 1*C until2014-04-24

2014-04-24 Bottling:

The final beer tasted rather awe-full. I do not know if it is doomed or if it just need more time given the high alcohol. The taste wasn't of the harsh alcohols but rather maybe a bit cidery (could be from the sugar). I guess we'll wait and see but I do not have high hopes

Original Wordpress ID and Date: 7541, 2014-03-03_213319



Dinner Crepes -- back to top

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I made crepes again. This time, I went back to the recipe from Ratio (used 2014-02-17) that says to do a 2:2:1 of :flour. I split the liquid between water and unsweetened almond milk. I had 3 eggs for 144 grams so 72 grams of water, almond milk and flour. I made it in the morning and let it sit during the day

Unlike with the reuben crepes, at least a good number of these worked. The first one failed but I got 4 more. Then, they started to fail again. I do not know if I had the heat too high? Too low? (yes, could be either). Or if I started to overthink the volume of each crepe. Either way, between the failed dough and the working crepes, I had enough.

I filled them with oven-roasted deli chicken (1/2# total), lite swiss cheese (~4 slices total) and some "Power Green" mix of spinach, red & green chard, and baby bok choy. I did two with it raw and two with it sautéd. I also added tomato.

You can also see in the picture the leftover sautéd mix and some mix rolled into the chicken.

Overall, they were okay. I do like the crepes but I am not in a hurry to do them again. It's not that they are really a lot of work, its just that they aren't all that_worth_ the work. Or at least not for a standard week-night meal. The sautéd veggies were okay, but the cooked spinach left the strange slimy feel in my mouth. I preferred the crepes with the raw greens since they were dryer and less slimy.

I figured out a trick that helped. I used a regular (bowl scraping) spatula to help lift them instead of the "flipper/turner" style. I think that worked pretty well.


Crepes ready to add stuff With the cooked greens With the raw greens (and a torn crepe)

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Original WP Post ID: 7549

Original WP Pub Date: 2014-03-04_093319



Rutabaga Chicken Hash -- back to top

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I made chicken hash with rutabaga instead of potato. I followed the recipe pretty closely including the seasonings and timings. The only things I did differently was I added a bit of extra broth to the pan before the chicken went in because it was getting too hot and cooked. I also added a chopped tomato since I had it.

It came out really good. Lots of flavor and pretty easy to make. I should put this into more standard rotation.

Original Wordpress ID and Date: 7562, 2014-03-05_101220



Breakfast Burrito for Dinner -- back to top

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This was about as simple of a meal as they come. I sliced about half of a Gimme Lean sausage, fried two eggs to over medium, put it on a warmed up tortilla and topped it with a tiny bit of part-skim mozzarella cheese. It was perfect in that it was fast and easy.

Original Wordpress ID and Date: 7571, 2014-03-06_111519



Cajun Chicken -- back to top

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I wanted a fast and quick meal so all I did was top some chicken with Emril Essence and cook it on the pan. It was actually really good and flavorful. The only thing is that I must have missed the thickest part when I took a temperature reading since there was a part not really cooked enough. I threw it in the microwave (which of course, over cooked it all)

Original Wordpress ID and Date: 7574, 2014-03-08_113549



Bison Patty Melts and Butternut Squash Chips -- back to top

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I made patty melts as I have done before but this time, I used fresh ground bison. I formed it into patties, topped it with some salt and pepper, and I cooked it on the cast iron pan. Each patty was about 3/8 of a pound. Meanwhile, I sautéd/caramelized onions. When they were all finished, I spread Brummel and Browns on the rye bread, topped it with the burger, the onions, then some fat free thousand island and finally a slice of low fat swiss. After having so much through last time, I decided to break out the griddler to cook them. It worked well enough except that on the top where there wasn't burger, just got soggy. It works better for flat and even sandwiches.

I also [attempted] butternut squash chips. I sliced the top part into 1/8" slices and I put them on a baking sheet with parchment paper and pam. I roasted them at 450 for 15 minutes, turned them and then intended to do another 15 but stopped around another 8 minutes when I saw they were browning. When I flipped them at 15, they felt very soggy still making me wonder if there is a better way to cook them. The parts that weren't burned were pretty good!

I also made a stove-top butternut squash hash with the bulb-part of the squash. I started them on the pan and then eventually added a bit of water and loosely covered it. This helped it all cook. Then I sautéd them once they were more cooked through. I made that for lunch the next day but when I tried one, it was pretty good.


Bison burgers Onions being caramelized Assembly before I added the dressing or the cheese. I over-cooked them a bit The butternut squash hash ready for lunch the next day

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Original WP Post ID: 7583

Original WP Pub Date: 2014-03-09_113858



Cilantro Egg-Drop Soup -- back to top

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NOTE: The dip part of this is now in My Recipe Book

Meredith has been talking about this soup for a while so I finally decided to give it a try. First of all, I am not totally sure what it is supposed to be called so I'll stick with my boring name (but it will always be Meredith's Soup in my book).

Anyway, I followed the recipe below with the following general changes:

As far as following recipes goes, I guess I was pretty close (I even used real garlic when called and actually grated it as best I could)

The soup was incredibly good. Lots of flavor and complexity. It was also pretty hearty as a meal given the egg and the beef. It would actually probably be fine with ground beef in the future and maybe (just maybe!) lentils (not really sure)

I was debating trying to lower the olive oil and I still may try to do so but honestly, I didn't think that 1/8 cups == 2 Tbsp (plus whatever else from the rest) was really_that_ bad.

I would definitely do it again. And I imagine soon enough, I will be adding it to my recipe book once I tweak it to be where I want it.

2014-03-12 Update: A few notes having eaten this for lunch two days later. The first is that I shouldn't have added the croutons for lunch until I was about to eat. They just disintegrated. The second is that it was a bit....for lack of a better word... udgy cold. Too much oil and a strange texture. I'll heat it up next time.

Photos:

The "sauce" as the recipe calls it. It really was more Cilantro Pepper Pesto. Very good Cubed and toasted in the toaster Mixing the cilantro pesto with the meat. I think this helped impart a lot of flavor

The West Lake Hybrid (from Lady and Pups)

Local Copy -- password is the name of my dog, all lower case

Original Wordpress ID and Date: 7590, 2014-03-10_202529



Rueben Spring rolls and Rutabaga Chips -- back to top

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After the failure of Reuben Crepes/Garden Rolls a few weeks ago, I decided to try again. I used the same basic fillers except I also toasted and sliced rye bread (see the photos below). The other fillings were 1/2 lean corned beef, 3 slices of light swiss, fat free thousand island, and sauerkraut. I further cooked the sauerkraut in a pan to get rid or more moisture. I filled them into 22cm rice paper wrappers (except the last one which was 33cm). I experimented a bit with different ways to rill them including

Anyway, I made 8 regular ones and one larger one. I put them on a pammed baking sheet, pammed them all, and baked them for 10 minutes at 350, flipped, and 10 more minutes. While it was not as catastrophic as last time, they still stuck. I didn't have this problem when I did it with eggs (see 2014-02-27) using non-stick aluminum foil so I will go back to that. Also some cheese spilled out but that may have only been in the ones that tore a bit.

My goal in cooking them is to crisp the wrappers, melt the cheese, and let the flavors meld. I think that I do not need 20 minutes at 350 and instead would do better with less at a higher temp. (I did 15@425 last time). Also, I do not think there was much benefit to flipping them but I'll decide later if I want to do that.

They were really good though! Even the ones that tore still had the classic Reuben dichotomy of flavors where you a bunch of unique flavors. And they were pretty easy to make!

I also made rutabaga chips like last time. I did 1/8" slices and roasted them at 425 for 15 minutes, flipped them, and did another 10. Some burned so I think next time, I will go a bit lower for longer. Also, letting them cool helped them crisp more.

Also, a note on names. I have decided to call_baked_ rice paper rolls "spring rolls" and if they are fresh, then "garden rolls" or "fresh rolls"


All of the ingredients Building the roll Before going into the oven

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Original WP Post ID: 7598

Original WP Pub Date: 2014-03-11_100150



Lentil Egg and Spring rolls -- back to top

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I made lentil egg rolls and spring rolls. I used the recipe on the back of the egg-roll wrappers (see photo from last time) with a few modifications. First of all, I used lentils instead of meat. I cooked 3/4 cup lentils in 1.5 cups water for 10 minutes and drained. Meanwhile, I finely chopped and sautéd mushrooms which gave the whole dish a lot of flavor. The only other changes were to go heavy on the ginger (also like last time), heavy on the oyster sauce, and add some soy sauce, sriracha and a bit of rice vinegar. I used half of a small head of cabbage while last time, it was a quarter of a large head.

The recipe doesn't say much about after adding the sauce. I kept it going until it all cooked down nicely. I also didn't let it cool before filling.

I decided to cook it hotter at 425°F for 15 minutes. As you can see from the photos, I did 6 egg rolls and 6 spring rolls. Two of the spring rolls were the large ones and they were too big. I had to eat it with a fork and knife. Also, the eggs rolls really were much better when it comes to heating/warming the rolls. But, the wrappers are a lot less healthy compared to the rice paper.

The rolls were very, very good! They tasted like regular egg rolls but fresher and less greasy inside. I will certainly do these again. They are "almost vegetarian" but I used real oyster sauce. If I want to do them fully vegetarian, I could use the vegan oyster sauce from 2013-06-17(the wrappers have egg in them so they won't be vegan).

Also, while I was cutting the carrot, it was a strange shape so I used my hands with the pan to go to the finger guard as I got closer. It would have been a fine plan had my hand not slipped. I took off a nice chuck of my thumb. Oops!


The filling ready to go Building the roll. Note that you do it at the diaganol Ready to go into the oven

Original Wordpress ID and Date: 7609, 2014-03-12_205604



Hamentashen -- back to top

All of the final cookies

Meredith and I made hamentashen to celebrate Purim.

The Dough

We used my dad's dough recipe except we used coconut oil instead of butter. We used the extra-virgin kind to still give it a coconut flavor. (We used the TJ's brand). Anyway, different web sites suggest different ways to use it. Commenters of this Kitchn Post say to use 1:1 for volume. This StackExchange post says that butter is 80% fat whereas coconut oil is 100% so compensate accordingly. Coconut Oil Online says it is roughly 92% by weight of butter. I went with the latter since it seemed like a good mix. It follows The Kitchn's volume advice and is easy to do by weight. Two sticks of butter is 1/2 lbs ~= 227 grams so I used 209 grams.

We refrigerated it first to make sure it was solid (melts at 76F). I then creamed it as the recipe said. I was afraid of it getting too warm and melting so I stopped a bit early. This was a mistake as I found a few (some rather large) chunks of coconut oil in the dough when I was rolling it out. It was still very good so clearly either the dough was forgiving or it was the right amount of fat.

As per the suggestion on the page, I chilled the dough after it was made (about an hour). I do not have any experience with the original butter version but this was really, really hard to work with when that cold. It would crack and be hard to spread. I found that the second rolling where it was warmer was easier so I took the rest of the fridge. That helped a lot.

The dough held up very well. As you can see from the various photos, most held their shape well. It had a good crumb and almost reminded me of short-bread. Plus, you could really taste the coconut flavor which I_really_ liked!

On the note of the dough, I found 18 minutes was the right amount of time to bake them!

2014-03-18 Note: I had a few later and they were cold from being outside. The coconut flavor_really_ showed through when they were cold!

Fillings

We made quite an assortment of fillings as noted below. We did run out so we resorted to some no-sugar-added cherry pie filling. However, that wasn't very good so we eventually stopped and just made cookies.

The other fillings are noted below

Fig Almond Cardamom:

Took a large handful of blanched almonds and a bit of cardamom. I used the magic bullet to finely chop it and then I mixed in a large dollup of Trader Joes Fig Butter. I may have used a_bit_ too much cardamom but the filling was very good. This was my favorite!

Mango Coconut Pecan:

Similar to the above but with pecans and coconut flakes finely chopped. I then mixed in Trader Joe's Mango Butter. A bit on the sweet side but it held up well and was different

Homemade Blackberry Lavender Filling:

This was Meredith's creation. First, she used the blender to combine about a 1/2 tsp of dried lavender buds with 1 tbsp sugar. She then cook 2 small (1/2 pint I think) containers of berries on the stove with 2 Tbsp water. As it cooked down she added 2 more Tbsp sugar. Towards the end , she mixed 1 Tbsp corn starch with the lavender sugar and added that. There wasn't enough lavender flavor so we crushed another 1/2 tsp of lavender and added it. The lavender flavor didn't come through as much until it cooled but then you could really taste it.

I was worried it wouldn't be thick enough to hold up but I was wrong. It worked out really well and was a nice (new) filing. We will make this again and use it for other things!

Toasted Black Sesame Seed Paste:

Meredith had this idea before I had read that halva was sometimes used as filling. We 3 Tbsp toasted black sesame seeds (not an easy thing to do because you cannot tell when toasted by looking at them) and then we ground them in the Magic Bullet until the released their oils and became like a paste. Then we added 2 Tbsp of honey and blended.

This worked out well even though it looked like tar filling. Unfortunately, there wasn't much. We only got 4 cookies out of it. We'll use more next time. It really did have the taste of Sesame Halva though!

Heath and Sweetened Coconut Flakes:

I had these leftover from a while ago and I managed to not eat them (I put a sign on them that says "NO" so I don't!). I finned a few with either a mixture of the two, just health, or with heath on the others. They didn't really work. You can see in some photos that they drooped. I did use them to top the cookies at the end.

Future Ideas:

The fruit butters plus nuts really worked well. I would expand that with others. Maybe pumpkin butter! Or apple butter. Also, maple bacon filling would be interesting but probably sacrilege

Other Notes:

Some general notes we figured:

Photos:

Below are a bunch of photos:


The dough all finished Blackberry Jam in process Blackberry jam finished Mango-Almond filling Heath and Coconut filling with a note to not just eat it Toasted Black Sesame Filling Rolling out the dough Meredith building the hamentashen I made some snarky comment and got floured Building the Hamentashen First tray out of the oes A Jam filled one Fig-Pecan-Coconut (not the same coconut as the other photo) The sesame filling expanded and hardened Backup cherry topping we used. Not very good. Will not do so again! Pain cookies we made with some remaining dough

This page was converted from Wordpress with a custom script by Justin Winokur. Most links and images should still work. However, if any links are broken, see the HTML (or Markdown) source to try to deduce the intended destination.

Original WP Post ID: 7623

Original WP Pub Date: 2014-03-16_202658



African Peanut Soup and Oysters on the Half Shell -- back to top

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We made African Peanut Soup with Meredith's regular recipe. The recipe is originally from 2013-11-09 except that we forgot all of the seasonings and skipped the peppers (hence why in the main thing, I said they were optional). However, despite forgetting these things, the soup was incredible! This is only my second time having it and I do not recall the last time exactly, this one was amazing!

We used a mixture of Better Than Bouillon and Osem. Also, it was a bit salty so we added another cup of water. We went heavy on the ginger and the peanut butter (hence those notes too). I also think that doing it in the cast-iron dutch oven and a really long simmer helped!

We also had a dozen oysters on the half shell. I am not totally sure what variety they were but e bought them at Fresh Market. They were not as good as ones we have had from Whole Foods. When I shucked them, they didn't seem to have much liquid ("liquor") though they seemed to be better later (how? I don't know...). Meredith and I each got a funky ones but the rest were...okay. Our stomachs still feel fine so I guess that says something.


The soup still in the pot The oysters on the half shell Things to go with them. Lemon and a bunch of sauces

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Original WP Post ID: 7658

Original WP Pub Date: 2014-03-16_230538



BATs (Bacon, Avocado, Tomato) -- back to top

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We had a pretty simple breakfast: BATs (Bacon, Avocado, Tomato) We had Whole Foods' Black Forrest Bacon which we baked at 350 until it was crisp (Best bacon and best method to bake it). We also had a not-quite-ripe avocado, tomato slices and Brummel and Browns. The bread was a few slices of rye from last week's meals and small (slightly stale) rolls from Whole Foods.

Simple and good meal.

Original Wordpress ID and Date: 7669, 2014-03-17_195902



Taco Stew -- back to top

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Meredith and I made the pretty standard lentil taco stew. We went a bit heavy on everything to make a bit more. We also tried an experiment: we had some leftover bacon fat from the morning so as used that. It made it smell good but the flavor was a bit out if place.

We also separately sautéd two jalapeños (forgot them sooner) and added that. It made the apartment fill with jalapeños burn. Ouch.

It made enough for two dinner and two lunches.

Original Wordpress ID and Date: 7673, 2014-03-17_230426



Roasted Green Beans and Sautéed Shrimp -- back to top

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I made a pretty simple meal. I roasted two (!!) pounds of french green beans. I tossed them with a little bit of olive oil then (too much) Penzeys Sandwich Sprinkle. I simply roasted them for 15 minutes at 450. This was a lot easier than sautéing! Next time, I will go much lighter on the seasonings.It was very salty. I like using the french green beans from Costco since you don't really have to cut off the stems.

I also sautéed about 2/3 lbs of shrimp with a little bit of olive oil and some salt, pepper, crushed red pepper, and garlic powder. The shrimp were not shelled as I had thought but I just pealed them while I ate. They were pretty good though maybe a bit overdone.

Not a lot to this meal except a large mass of green beans.About 20 minutes total and much of that time was passive!

Original Wordpress ID and Date: 7680, 2014-03-18_160435



Chicken Cabbage Stir Fry -- back to top

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I made a chicken-cabbage stir-fry of sorts. It was actually inspired by the egg rolls last week.

I started by making shredded chicken. In the past, I pressure cooked it but this time, I just poached it. I used ~2/3 lbs of chicken. Most sites said to simmer for 10 minutes and let it sit in the water for another 10-15. That is basically what I did with broth (Osem since its easy) with additional spices

While the chicken simmering, I chopped half a head of cabbage, half a bunch of dino kale, and two small carrots. Once it was finished poaching, I sautéed 1/2 an onion in a bit of olive oil. I then added 4 cloves of chopped garlic and a good amount of grated ginger.

I added all of the veggies then a bit of the poaching liquid to steam and wilt the green. I added some oyster sauce, sriracha, teriyaki sauce (the thin stuff, not Soy Vey) and a few other seasonings.

I used the mixer to shred the chicken and added that.

Overall, it was actually really good. It made a decent amount of food with a lot of food. The oyster sauce smelled pretty bad but actually tasted fine in the mix.

Original Wordpress ID and Date: 7688, 2014-03-19_190827



Brussel Sprouts and Smoked Sausage -- back to top

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I made a pretty simple meal. I roasted (2 lbs) of brussel sprouts and 3pieces of smoked turkey sausage. I sliced the brussel sprouts and roasted them along with the sausage for 30 minutes at 400°F. The brussel sprouts were fine but the sausage got over cooked. Next time, I will do the sausage for the last ten minutes or so.

The seasonings were mostly salt, pepper, garlic powder and rosemary.

Other than trimming and slicing the brussel sprouts, this was a fast and very easy meal. Eating two pounds of brussel sprouts was a bit much and would be enough for lunch the next day (but with more meat) in the future.

Original Wordpress ID and Date: 7692, 2014-03-20_202524



Ham Steak with Egg and Roasted Asparagus -- back to top

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I wanted a fast and high protein meal after a century ride and this is the best I came up with. I cut a whole in a ham steak and cooked an egg in it. I think I cooked it a bit too long but it wasn't too bad. Certainly did the job of being so much protein. However, I could probably have skipped doing the egg in the ham steak. Next time, I'll just fry an egg separately.

I also had roasted asparagus. I roasted it at 450 for 15 minutes. I do not know if it was too long/too hot or if it was the fact that this was really old asparagus, but it was very, very mushy. Oh we'll, it was still good enough

Original Wordpress ID and Date: 7696, 2014-03-22_202034



Lentil Moussaka -- back to top

(forgot to take a photo since I didn't eat it that night)

I made the pretty standard recipe except I discovered a few changes that really made life easier. Rather than broil the eggplant slices, I roasted them at 450 for 15 minutes. This way, I didn't have to watch it or flip it and I could do two trays at once. It_significantly_reduced the amount of work.

I think that broiling_is_ better since it makes them more crispy, but I am far from convinced that it would be notice able in the final product when you have it baked in a wet sauce for a while and the reduction in work is well worth it. (I will update the post to account for this change)

Also, I made it into my corning ware dish. I had a lot extra that I was able to make a large single serving (with sauce) and a small side-dished size without sauce.

Original Wordpress ID and Date: 7700, 2014-03-23_173056



Fried Egg and Gimme Lean -- back to top

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I wasn't too hungry after making the Lentil Moussakka so I fried an egg and made a Gimme Lean Sausage patty. I had that with some leftover potatoes from the moussaka.

Nothing special but it was easy and did the job...

Original Wordpress ID and Date: 7705, 2014-03-23_185017



Roasted Kabocha Squash -- back to top

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This was unintentionally a complete repeat of 2014-01-13 where I had roasted kabocha squash (using the same procedure) and moussaka. I ate the squash skin and all. It was very good.

Original Wordpress ID and Date: 7709, 2014-03-25_125416



Cauliflower Fritters and Chicken Sausage -- back to top

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I made the pretty standard cauliflower fritters again with a good amount (4 oz) of lite feta. Again, the feta really gives it a good amount of flavor! I also added a lot of dried onion, garlic powder, and pepper. Plus a little bit of sriracha. Finally, the only thing I did was to make them smaller.

They were really good! I actually intended it to be a double serving but I ate all of the fritters. I also had 2 and a half chicken sausages (100 cal/each).

Original Wordpress ID and Date: 7713, 2014-03-26_220224



Thai Crab Cakes -- back to top

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(Jwinokur Note: This is Meredith's recipe but I encouraged her to let me post it since she was raving about it. Hence, it is published under her name)

Mix everything together and put in fridge to chill. Allow to rest for around 30 minutes. Form into cakes, dredge in flour, and bake around 350*F for 12 minutes on each side. The cakes will seem like there is no way they will hold together, but they will. Serve with Thai chili jam and a squirt of Sriracha.

Serve with a wedge of lime

Original Wordpress ID and Date: 7716, 2014-03-28_121237



Bailey's Irish Cream White Chocolate Cheesecake -- back to top

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I made my regular cheese cake again doing a 4/3 multiplier for the ingredients plus the larger size for the crust. I also had to just use chopped the chocolate for the top just like you do for the inside. This is because I could only buy white chocolate chips. It actually worked pretty well for the top too. I also did something a little bit different. I ground the chocolate before I did the rest. It is of utmost importance that the food processor be dry for the chocolate but it is less crucial for the crust so I did it that way.

I do not know if it was because of the extra crust (see the picture below) but unlike last time, I didn't have extra filling like last time. It filled most of the way and was fine


Original Wordpress ID and Date: 7725, 2014-03-29_203019



Random stir-fry -- back to top

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I made this quickly and it was about a week ago so I do not remember it all but basically, I had some leftover zucchini and some shredded chicken so I made a stir-fry.I also threw a jalapeño and a bell pepper. I really do not remember anything else about it since it was so long ago. I don't even remember which sauce I used

Original Wordpress ID and Date: 7728, 2014-03-30_103501



Zucchini Bread -- back to top

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I had a huge amount of zucchini and I was going out of town so I made zucchini bread. I followed the recipe from Smitten Kitchen (below). I tried to stay relatively true to the recipe except I also used almonds. And I forgot the vanilla.

However, I only had the bigger casserole dish which required me to cook it for a very long time. I didn't actually eat it so I do not know how it came up. I will ask how it came out. I did also make a mini one below and it was pretty good. Probably could have used some vanilla!

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Zucchini Bread (from Smitten Kitchen)

Local copy -- password is the name of my dog, all lower case

Original Wordpress ID and Date: 7732, 2014-03-30_183542