It has been far too long since I’ve posted a recipe. I’ve been indulging in all things summer from spending time with family to relaxing and learning new skills in the form of a consulting business. While the hubby is the main product (consultant), I’m …
Oh my goodness! I think summer has FINALLY arrived in Minnesota! Not that we every stopped grilling, even under multiple feet of snow but summer grilling is much easier than shoveling out the grill first. Ha! In addition to the yummy brats, burgers and whatever …
I’ve been creating (and eating) a lot of keto diet appropriate meals lately and spiced okra is one of the fun side dishes I’ve come up with to use as a fiber rich, low carb side kick to any protein meal mail dish you wish to prepare. I paired the spiced okra with a butter chicken that had a similar lightly spiced Indian flavor profile and it went beautifully together. I think you could even just add protein in the form of chicken chunks or paneer (an Indian style cheese similar in texture to a cheese curd) to the dish to make it an easy main dish option too.
When preparing okra, you’ll want to take care not to overcook it. Most dishes that use okra, use it for its thickening properties so it’s often added to soups. In this case, we don’t want it to thicken our sauce too much. As okra cooks, it releases a watery liquid similar to aloe vera which is what causes the gelling effect. To reduce this effect, slice okra while it’s chilled in larger slices. Cook these on high heat to minimize the gel as well. Pairing okra with tomatoes is also a great trick to reduce the gel effect as the acidity cuts through it and helps it to cook off leaving you with a pleasing plateful of perfect pods.
I’ve previously claimed to not really like cauliflower but, you guys, I am SOLD!!! My fabulous mother in law brought a cauliflower gratin over for our Thanksgiving feast that I thought was really tasty. So I thought, why not kick it up a notch? I …
I returned from immersing myself in nature camping on the bluffs of the Mississippi river this past week rejuvenated and ready to eat roots. Not tree roots or anything THAT crazy… just beet roots. Which, if you know me, is sorta along the lines of …
My adorable nephew came over recently to hang out with auntie and his cousins. I sure miss the days when my kids where that young, snuggly and innocent. Now my not-so-innocent angels are traveling to different states with the grandparents and going off to overnight camps and slowly becoming young ladies learning to navigate their pre-teens. Even my little fella will be in grade school this fall and has seemingly overnight turned into a bonafide big kid and riding his bike sans training wheels. Sigh. My kids may be changing but some things never do. Like the ability of maple baked beans to elicit childhood memories and serve as comfort picnic food.
Growing up, we used to pop open a can of tomato sauced baked beans and then add our own sauce to it or if we were feeling really un-creative, we’d get the Bush’s baked beans which were already fully seasoned. These were staples of easy end-of-day eating that went with nearly every cut of grilled meat we served but these beans were still processed and from a can. I’ve been determined to recreate our “home cooked” familiar flavor of baked beans and haven’t found a way to recreate it quite perfectly just yet without a lot of refined brown sugar. Instead, in my attempts to recreate our family fav I did manage to create an awesome adaptation of maple bourbon baked beans which are made without any refined sugars. Baked beans do take time to prepare from dry beans but the results are worth it. These slightly sweet and oh so scrumptious maple bourbon baked beans are a scratch made side perfect for picnic party heaven.
Last weekend, we had a photographer come out to our acreage to do a little family photo shoot. I also had her take some updated pics of me so I can finally update my photos here on the blog (soon!). I was re-living the senior picture experience all …
Oh boy. My girls are officially on summer vacation and I’m happy they’re around. Not so happy about all the “I’m bored!” statements that are happening already. Lucky for them, I have all sorts of fun tasks to solve their boredom (insert maniacal laugh here). I’m …
I’m currently sitting at my desk with a chicken on my shoulder watching an exciting lightning storm outside while sipping a small glass of wine. I’m good at multitasking. The dear hubby is gone on a business trip this week so I’ve been gladly bombarding him with text photos of the kids and chickens. It makes me happy… and really, I’m pretty sure pics like that would bring a smile to anyone’s face. Meanwhile, when he’s outta town, it’s a comfort food all the way kind of day. So I made cheesy ranch potatoes. Yes, like the kind from my childhood with that totally unassuming name of cheesy potatoes but in true fashion I re-did the recipe to make them healthier and added herbs that lend a ranch flavor to them. You know, because I used to dump in a packet of hidden valley ranch seasoning to the mix. That seemed totally wrong and too processed so now I have cheesy ranch potatoes made from scratch with hidden veggies. And they. are. GOOD. My daughters even proclaimed that I should DEFINIETLY make these again!
I know, cheesy potatoes have a calling in potluck situations in the Midwest (or for Easter and mother’s day brunch) to serve as that totally cheesy, over the top creamy deliciousness that is smothered all over the shredded (or diced) potatoes. It’s always one of my absolute favorite dishes but I decided it was time to give it a little makeover in the nutrition department. I haven’t bought a can of condensed soup in over two years. There’s just no need when you can put more nutritious combinations together or make your own version of the same thing in nearly the same amount of time. Anyway, in place of the traditional cream of chicken soup that’s normally used in “cheesy potatoes” I subbed chicken broth and pureed squash (or pumpkin would work too). Then, instead of the sour cream, I used plain Greek yogurt. You could totally use a mix of yogurt and sour cream but I really liked the yogurt with the ranch herb mix as it gave it just enough of that buttermilk tang that fresh ranch dip has without the processed ingredient list. Gotta love that!
This little riff on cheesy potatoes still has a crunchy topping but it’s accomplished with a sprinkle of corn meal rather than over buttered crushed cornflakes. Honestly, it’ll be great either way. I just decided to make it a bit lighter with the cornmeal sprinkle and a toss of chopped chives on top to accent the ranch flavor. Seriously, this is my new favorite comfort food!!
Grilled Corn…simple and summery, buttery with a slight smoky flavor, crisp and oh-so-sweet. This side dish comes with a generous shout out to summer… as in, summer, let’s get this warm weather rockin’ so we can be outside all the time! I guess I’ll have …
