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Green Chile Mac and Cheese

29 Aug

With the guacamole pack I contributed for a couple of weeks ago, there were some green chiles.  I had been craving some macaroni and cheese, and thought it would be great to add green chiles as I had before.   My older daughter loved this, as did my husband and I.  It’s spicy, but not overly spicy.

Green Chile Mac and Cheese
Original recipe here

What you need:

1/2 pound elbow macaroni
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 small onion, chopped
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups low-fat milk
1 4-oz. cans chopped green chiles, drained OR 1/4 cup fresh, roasted green chiles, peeled, stem and seeds removed, and diced
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 1/2 cups crushed corn chips, optional (I omitted)
Salt and pepper

How to make it:

Preheat oven to 375 F.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook macaroni until al dente, about 8 minutes, or as the box directs. Drain; rinse under cold water.

Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add onion and sauté until soft, about 10 minutes. Sprinkle in the flour and cook, stirring constantly, 3 minutes. Slowly whisk in milk. Raise heat to medium and slowly bring to a simmer, stirring constantly. Cook for 2 minutes. Stir in green chiles. Add 1 1/2 cups of the cheddar cheese to skillet, stirring, until all cheese has melted. Season with salt and pepper.

Add cooked pasta to the skillet; stir.

Spray an 8-by-8-inch baking dish with cooking spray and pour in pasta mixture.

In a small bowl, combine corn chips with remaining 1/2 cup cheddar cheese; sprinkle over pasta.

Bake in the preheated oven for 40 to 45 minutes, until pasta mixture is bubbling and top is golden. Let sit for 5 minutes, then serve.

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Zucchini Chocolate Chip Muffins

26 Aug

 

I love zucchini, and I love finding new ways to use it in recipes.  I am a big fan of Zucchini Brownies, but I wanted to try out more of a bread this time.  Since I have trouble getting breads to cook all the way through and it doesn’t seem to get eaten as well in our house, I like to make muffins instead.  So, I looked up a bread recipe and decided to add chocolate chips to still get the chocolate flavor.  And, well, the results are great!  I don’t think these muffins will last long in my house, my kids are all over them.  You can see a little green in these, although it’s hard to really tell in the picture above, but they don’t seem to care.  To them, it’s a muffin, and it’s good!

 

Zucchini Chocolate Chip Muffins
Adapted from Zucchini Bread recipe here

What you need:

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups white sugar
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups grated zucchini
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

How to make it:

Preheat oven to 325 F.

Sift flour, salt, baking powder, soda, and cinnamon together in a bowl.

Beat the eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar together in a large bowl. Add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture, and beat well. Stir in zucchini and chocolate chips until well combined.

Line with paper liners or spray a 12 cup muffin pan. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.  Allow to cool for a few minutes, then remove to a cooling rack. Repeat for the rest of the batter.  Yields 24 muffins.

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Peach Fruit Leather

24 Aug

 

After making the Cherry Apple Fruit Leather, I wanted to try more with other fruits.  I didn’t have a use yet for about 10 peaches that I had gotten from Bountiful Baskets recently, so I decided to put them to good use for Peach Fruit Leather.  I made it very similar to the Cherry Apple.  The outsides got a little too dry and the inside was a little too sticky, but we’ve been eating it anyway!

 

Peach Fruit Leather

What you need:

4 cups peaches, pits removed and chopped
1/4 – 1/2 cup sugar or honey, depending on your desired level of sweetness

How to make it:

Preheat oven to 170 F, or the lowest setting your oven will go.  For me, this was 200 F.

Place peaches in a large pot.  Bring to a boil, then simmer until fruit starts to break down, about 10 minutes.  Transfer to a blender to puree well, then return to the pot.  Or, keep in the pot and use an immersion blender to puree fruit.

Add the sugar or honey, and stir well.  Simmer over low heat, stirring frequently, until the mixture thickens.

Line a jelly roll pan or baking sheet with raised sides with parchment paper, plastic wrap, or a silicone baking mat (I used plastic wrap).  Depending on the size of your pan, you may need to use 2.

Spread the fruit mixture as thinly and evenly as possible.  The thicker it is, the longer it will take to dry out.

Place pan(s) in the preheated oven.  If using 2 pans, be sure to rotate every hour.  Let sit in the low heat oven for 3-6 hours, or until fruit mixture is just slightly tacky.  Remove and allow to cool.

Cut the fruit leather into smaller pieces, as desired.  I used a pizza cutter to make a cut in the middle lengthwise, then cut into 1″ strips.  The pizza cutter cut the plastic wrap as well, so I kept it on to help prevent the roll from sticking to itself.  I used twist ties to hold the rolls together, you could also use string.  Store in an airtight container, and it should be good for a few weeks.

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Cilantro Lime Rice

20 Aug

 

I attempted to make this once before, but it didn’t quite turn out right.  So, with the limes and cilantro I got in this week’s guacamole pack from Bountiful Baskets, I wanted to give it a try again.  This time yielded much better results.  I used my steamer to cook the rice,

 

Cilantro Lime Rice

What you need:

1 cup long grain white rice
Water, amount will vary according to package directions or use of steamer or rice cooker
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Juice f 1 lime
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons cilantro

How to make it:

Prepare the rice according to the package directions or the directions of your steamer/rice cooker, adding the bay leaf in with the rice and water while it cooks.  Fluff rice.  Remove bay leaf.

In a small bowl, mix together the oil, lime juice, salt, and cilantro.  Pour over cooked rice and mix in well.  Serve warm.

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Basket Breakdown: 8/18/2012

20 Aug

I finally made it back to my regular A week site.  It’s just been a busy few weeks and since I have to be at my site on B weeks, A weeks are my week to catch up on other things in life.  This week, I contributed for a conventional basket, the guacamole veggie pack, and the assorted bread pack.

Here is how the conventional basket looked:

This week, we got bananas, nectarines, plums, grapes, radishes, Romaine lettuce, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, tomatoes, and onions.

My husband and kids were very excited about the radishes.  I also brought home a few friends radishes, so we are set on them for the week!  I will make some Radish Dip, and may try roasting them to see how they turn out.  I will be making either salsa or tomato sauce with the tomatoes, just have to decide which.  Not sure on the Brussels sprouts, either shredded or roasted, though.

 

Next, the guacamole veggie pack.

It contained Anaheim green chiles, yellow onions, garlic, green onions, jalapenos, avocados, and limes.  My cilantro didn’t make it in the picture, but that was in here too.  So, of course, I will make Guacamole, but I may make jalapeno poppers, and roast and dice the chiles for later, since I don’t like my guacamole too spicy.

 

Finally, here is the assorted bread pack.

It had 3 loaves of Savory 9 Grain bread (different from the regular 9 grain Bountiful Baskets offers), 1 loaf of English muffin bread, and 1 baguette.  I haven’t tried the baguette yet, but the other 2 breads are very good.  We’ve been toasting the English muffin bread and spreading homemade strawberry jelly on it for breakfast in the morning.

 

Note: The type and amount of food may vary from another basket because of geographic location and because of variances in how case ends are distributed once everything is distributed evenly. I also volunteered and got an extra item for volunteering.

 

 

 

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My FarmBox: 8/15/2012

16 Aug

I’m still hoping to have a FarmBox delivery to my city, but in the meantime, they now deliver to a town about 35 minutes from me, which is great and not too bad of a drive.  The box I got yesterday looked great, and we’re eating some of it already.

This time, I picked the pizza crusts, green leaf lettuce, 2 bunches of radishes, micro cilantro, micro parsley, gala apples (from Briggs & Eggers), white potatoes, zucchini, and spaghetti squash.  Love this program!

 

Note: I order a custom box and choose what I want in my box from their Web Store.  There may be variances in availability on different pick up days.

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Shrimp and Sausage Gumbo

16 Aug

 

I apologize that the picture above isn’t the best, but I forgot to take one of the finished product!  Had a busy day yesterday.  Anyway, this gumbo is delicious and something I only make occasionally, just because it is rather time-consuming.  Plus, the roux can be tricky to get just right.  This particular recipe calls for a dark brown roux, which doesn’t mean burned, it will become a dark brown color after 30-45 minutes of cooking.  This article from allrecipes.com has a great explanation of how to make a roux, with pictures of the different shades of roux to use as a guide.  Once the roux is right, the rest is easy and can be done either on the stove top or in the slow cooker.  This recipe uses sausage and shrimp, but you could also add chicken or substitute chicken for the shrimp or sausage.  I used my last bag of Zaycon Foods shrimp (sniff, sniff) to make this, along with smoked andouille sausage.  You can also change-up the vegetables a little if you want, I sometimes won’t use okra if I don’t have it and will use extra corn or celery in place of it.

 

Shrimp and Sausage Gumbo
Original recipe here

What you need:

1 cup butter (2 sticks)
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 chopped yellow onion
1/4 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup chopped green bell pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup sliced fresh okra
2 cups whole corn kernels
3 cups seafood stock (use vegetable or chicken stock if you can’t find seafood stock)
1 cup bottled clam juice (or use another 1 cup of stock in place of this)
1 cup chopped tomatoes
3 bay leaves
1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes
1 tablespoon Cajun seasoning (I use Louisiana Cajun seasoning)
1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
1 teaspoon dried basil leaves
1/2 teaspoon finely ground black pepper
1 1/2 cups cooked smoked sausage, sliced diagonally (I used Johnsonville Andouille)
2 pounds shrimp, cleaned and deveined
Cooked white rice

How to make it:

In a large saucepan, melt the butter over low heat.  Add the flour, and cook on low heat until the roux is dark brown; about 30 to 45 minutes, stirring constantly.  Be careful not to burn the roux.

Add the onions, celery, peppers and garlic and saute until translucent.

Mix in the remaining ingredients, except the rice, and simmer over medium-low heat until thick, about 1 hour.  Remove the bay leaves.  Serve over white rice.

Slow Cooker Method:

Make the roux the same as above, and saute the onions, celery, peppers, and garlic until translucent.  Transfer this all to the slow cooker and add remaining ingredients to the slow cooker, except the rice.  Cook on low heat for 6-8 hours, or high heat for 3-4 hours.  Remove bay leaves.  Serve over white rice.

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Slow Cooker Lentil and Kale Soup

12 Aug

 

I have been on the hunt for recipes using lentils since I got a 25 pound bag recently from Bountiful Baskets.  After getting Tuscan kale this weekend from Bountiful Baskets, I started to look at soup recipes online to see what I could find.  So, I came across this recipe, that also used celery and carrots, which I also got from Bountiful Baskets, and onion, which I have plenty of on hand.  I thought this was very good, my 5-year-old enjoyed it as well, although she ate mostly the kale.  My husband and 3-year-old turned up their noses at it, but their loss, more for me!

 

Slow Cooker Lentil and Kale Soup
Original recipe here

What you need:

1 cup lentils, rinsed and drained
8 cups water
3 vegetable bouillon cubes
1 1/2 cups carrots, finely diced
1 1/2 cups celery, finely diced
2 whole onions, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
5 cups kale, leaves removed from stems and chopped
2 teaspoons fresh rosemary, minced
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon sage
salt and pepper to taste

How to make it:

Add all ingredients to the slow cooker.  Cook on low for 7 to 8 hours, or high for 3 1/2 to 4 hours.

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Basket Breakdown: 8/11/2012

11 Aug

This week I got the conventional basket for $15.

 

The basket contained cherries, mangoes, peaches, carrots, Galia melon, celery, mushrooms, green peppers, tomatoes, green leaf lettuce, and Tuscan kale.

With all the lentils and beans I have, I may try out some new soups this week, possibly a Sausage, Lentil, and Kale soup and maybe a kale and bean soup.  For the green peppers, I’m thinking about grilling them with some onions and steak for fajitas.  The tomatoes will be sliced to for sandwiches, BLTs and grilled cheese, yum!  Not sure on the mushrooms yet, but maybe I will make a stew with the mushrooms, carrots, and some beef.  Chicken and noodles, using the celery and carrots sounds good too!

 

Note: The type and amount of food may vary from another basket because of geographic location and because of variances in how case ends are distributed once everything is distributed evenly. I also volunteered and got an extra item for volunteering.

 

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Local Farm Finds: 8/10/2012

11 Aug

Friday, I decided it was time for another local farm adventure!  I had originally planned to go to Sunizona Family Farms to pick up a FarmBox, but since they now have a delivery to the Bisbee Food Co-op on Wednesdays, I decided to wait.  But, on one of my previous trips, we had noticed a pinto bean farm, so I decided to still go over and check it out, plus head to Apple Annie’s again for veggies and apples.  I went with my friends, Jen and Verity, and Verity’s little guy (he’s 1 and was great the whole trip!).  Thanks to Jen for driving!

So, the first stop was the Bonita Bean Company.  They process beans from growers in the southeastern part of Arizona.  They have pinto beans in 3, 10, 25, and 50 pound bags.  They also have a 9 bean mix, pinto, cranberry, light red kidney, yellow, black, small red, pink, navy and great northern beans, in 1.25, 10, and 50 pound bags.  Very friendly and helpful staff there, and I decided on the 10 pound burlap bag of pinto beans and the 1.25 lb 9 bean mix.  My total came to $12.50, $10 for the pinto beans, $2.50 for the 9 bean mix.  Verity also bought a recipe book with lots of ideas for beans, so I should be able to make good use of all the beans.  I think my first attempt will be refried beans, and we’ll see what else from there.

After the bean company, we headed back through Willcox to find a place to eat lunch.  We decided on a cute place named Big Texas Bar-B-Que.  Part of their dining car is in a train car, as the restaurant is near the railroad tracks in town.  They have a big smoker where they smoke their own barbecue, which we could smell immediately when we got out of the car to head inside.  I had the Texas Brisket Sandwich with french fries, both of which were very good.  I recommend a stop in there if you are over that way.  Edited to add in more pictures, thank you to Jen!

Front of Big Texas Bar-B-Que in Willcox, AZ

Big Texas Bar-B-Que, rear view of train car dining area and the entrance

 

 

Texas Brisket Sandwich and Fries. Delicious!

The Brisket Stuffed Baked Potato. Quite possibly the largest potato I’ve seen!

 

 

Next we traveled to Apple Annie’s Produce and Pumpkins, then Apple Annie’s Orchard.  They have a lot of produce available now already picked or you go out and pick.  I got 1/2 dozen corn, a 5.01 lb cantaloupe, a 4.82 lb cantaloupe, 5.08 lbs of assorted squash, 2.13 lbs of cucumbers, 0.2 lbs of jalapenos, 0.82 lbs of okra, and 1.81 lbs of Gala apples for a total of $21.62.  I also got some homemade fudge, which was buy 4 for $11.99, get 2 free.  Delicious!

Here is the produce:

I may head up that way again next month when more apples will be in season.  Then, I can make apple crisp, maybe make some apple juice in my juice extractor, apple sauce, and apple butter.  Yum!

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