Sauteed Zucchini and Cabbage

Zucchini and Cabbage - So good together!

If you visit my blog often you'll know I'm not one for doing photo shoots or half the time, even remembering to take pictures of the food I make.  This is one dish my daughter (or anyone else reading this) is lucky I took a picture of because it smelled SO GOOD we couldn't wait to eat it.  It was just a quick side dish I threw together at the last minute to go along with the meal, but it ended up being the highlight.   My husband isn't crazy about cabbage - ok, that is putting it politely.  Let's be honest.  My husband hates cabbage.  He eats it every so often in my cole slaw or as a light topping to fish tacos but that is it.  He had seconds. 

I didn't measure anything - you'll see why you see the ingredients.  I can 'guesstimate' for you but you really need to just throw this together using the amounts you need for the number of people you are feeding.  Play with your food.


Sauteed Zucchini and Cabbage

Olive Oil
Butter, real
Sliced zucchini
Fresh grated cabbage (bagged mix from the store works great)
Fresh, minced or chopped garlic
Onion, sliced (optional)
Salt and pepper

In a saucepan on the stove over medium high heat, cover the bottom in a light layer of olive oil and add about a tablespoon or two of butter.  Add 1-2 zucchini's that have been sliced into coins or on the diagonal.  Saute until just starting to turn golden on one side and flip them.  Now add about 1/2 - 1 t fresh garlic, salt and pepper, a handful of fresh cabbage and if you wish, a bit of sliced onion.  Saute until golden brown and just starting to caramelize a bit, giving it a nice color and also that 'almost sweet' hint that caramelized vegetables have.  Serve hot!

A handful of zucchini and a handful of cabbage in hot olive oil and butter

Golden brown - just about perfect to remove, plate and serve

 

 

Raspberry dressing from seedless jam

Salad Greens with Raspberry Dressing (made from jam!)

I originally posted this back in 2008 or 2009, but this morning it caught my attention because I have sugar free jam on hand and looking over the ingredients in this recipe, if I cut down on the lime juice a bit I can make this a nice light dressing that is sugar free and lower carb.  If you missed this one the first time around, here it is again.


The salad greens are important to the presentation, so if you can, don't chop up Ice Berg lettuce or even just romaine. Use a nice, pretty mixture.


Salad Greens with Raspberry Dressing

3/4 c lime juice
3/4 c seedless raspberry jam
3 T oil
3 garlic cloves, pressed
3/4 t salt
3/4 t ground red pepper
1 bag (4 cups) mixed salad greens

Process first 6 ingredients in a blender until smooth. Cover and chill 2 hours. Drizzle over salad greens.

Honeyville Almond Flour - Free Shipping

I don't normally post at night as I usually update in the morning but I'm putting this here because I am an idiot and just wasted $4.49 and as a reminder to myself I'm putting this on my website.

We are starting up low carb and sugar free again, so today I placed a couple orders online for items I have a hard time finding locally or cost too much locally.  One of the things I like is Honeyville's brand of almond flour.  It's a finer grain than other brands and it's much better than the almond flour I grind myself.  It's expensive - so it usually takes me two days to convince myself to spend the money and order it (hitting that 'send' button is so hard for a frugal person like me!)  but in the end, I do, and I did.  I was down to half a bag, so I knew I needed to purchase more.

I order straight from Honeyville's site, where their price fluctuates a little but is currently $35.99 and shipping is $4.49.  The order was placed this morning.  Done. Over.

But I just whipped up some brownies (in the oven as I type this) and as I walked out of the kitchen it hit me.  Amazon.  I bet I could have saved on shipping through Amazon.  Sure enough - there it was.  The exact Honeyville Blanched Almond Meal Flour, 5 lb. bag that I ordered... but with free 2 day free shipping.  Darn!!  I could have saved almost 5 bucks.   Be smarter than me.  Check Amazon before hitting that send button!

Zucchini or 'squash' noodles! Great for a buttered comfort food or better yet? No Pasta Lasagna!

Do you need:

• Something new to do with yellow squash or zucchini? 
• A different kind of side dish?
• Faux noodles for a low carb diet?
• All of the above?

Noodles and pasta are a favorite since my childhood; it's a simple food but just so good.  Here is a faux noodle idea that you can make this way (like buttered noodles) but my favorite way to use  these is in a vegetable based, pasta-free lasagna.  Just make the lasagna like you normally would but use thin strips of uncooked zucchini or yellow squash zucchini in place of the noodles.



Faux Noodles

Yellow Squash
Butter
Salt and Pepper

Wash your squash.  If you wish to scoop out the seeds first, slice in half lengthwise and use a spoon to scoop out the center seeds (see photo).  Using a potato peeler, peel your yellow zucchini squash into thin strips.  Boil a pot of water on the stove and immerse your 'faux noodles' into the water.  You only have to boil about a minute as they are so thin.  Remove, drain very well, pressing down a bit as it will hold a lot of water.  While hot, add your toppings.  Can use alfredo sauce, spaghetti sauce, etc. but I like mine with butter, salt and pepper to taste.

Slice your yellow squash into strips

I like to clean my squash out with a spoon to remove the seeds

Boiling just like pasta

Homemade Rice Mixes you can Pack in Mylar, glass jars or baggies. (Great for Emergency Storage)

Originally, these were posted on my blog about 6 years ago.  I revisited them last summer but now I'm posting them today because they are perfect for a project I'm going to be working on soon for our emergency storage kits and our 72 hour bags.  You might also be interested in these for hiking, camping and backpacking.

To make them you simply add water or another liquid you prefer (like broth if you wish).  The project I'm going to working on involves mixing these recipes together then dividing them equally between 4 empty Capri-Sun packets and resealing with high heat from a hair straightener set to 450 degrees. I saw this idea on a few different emergency and camping boards and I thought it would be fun to try.  These individual packets are light, small, thin and easy to pack in a backpack.  You can adapt preparation by adding boiling water, resealing and waiting 10-12 minutes and then enjoying.  I happen to have Butter Powderin my storage as well so I can add that to the mix - but you wouldn't have to do so of course.  Also, if you are preparing these for a long term storage option and are not using a FoodSaver, I would insert an oxygen absorber packet.  This will suck the moisture and air out of the packet and allow you to safely store them as long as they were properly sealed.  I'll let you know how my 'capri-sun' packaging endeavor goes in a future post!

If you are not using these for backpacking or storage, think about making these and then storing them in an air tight Mason or other canning jar.  I think you could even put them in a Ziploc style baggy - and if you wish, freeze the mix. 



Onion Rice Mix
4 cups uncooked rice
1 envelope onion soup mix
1/4 cup dried minced onion
1 T. parsley
1/2 t. salt

Lemon Dill Rice Mix
4 cups uncooked rice
1/4 cup grated lemon peel
1/4 cup powdered chicken soup base
2 T. dill
1 T. chives
1/2 t. salt

Vegetable Rice Mix
4 cups uncooked rice
1 envelope vegetable soup mix
2 T. dried minced onion
2 T. dried minced celery
2 T. dried minced pepper
1 t. salt

Spanish Rice Mix
4 cups uncooked rice
1/2 cup Mexican seasoning mix
1/2 cup dried corn
2 T. parsley
1 T. basil

Creamy Herb Rice
4 cups uncooked rice
1/2 cup instant nonfat dry milk
1/4 cup dried minced celery
2 T. parsley
2 T. thyme
1 T. marjoram

Combine the ingredients specified for each different mix, and store each different mix in a glass jar or tightly closed container on the pantry shelf for up to 4 months.

To Use: Mix 1 cup of any of the rice mixes with 2 cups of liquid, either water, juice, broth, or a combination along with 2 tablespoons of butter. Place the rice, liquid, and butter on high heat and bring to a rolling boil. Immediately reduce the heat to very low, cover and simmer the rice for 10-15 minutes or until all the liquid is absorbed.

To cook in a microwave, combine the rice, liquid, and butter in a 1 1/2 quart casserole, and heat, uncovered on high or full power for 12 minutes. Top and stir once or twice during the cooking. Cover the casserole and let rice stand for 5 minutes before serving.

Variations: It's easy to make a meal in one pot if you sprinkle a cup of rice mix around a roast or several meat or fish pieces before baking. Just remember to add 2 cups of liquid, cover, and bake for at least 30 minutes or until meat is tender. Or, try serving the prepared rice combined with stir fried vegetable, shrimp, or chopped ham. When making Spanish Rice, it's a good idea to use tomato juice or sauce as the liquid. The mixes make 32 oz. each.




You might also be interested in a Food Saver, mylar bags or oxygen absorbers;


     


 

Jalapeno Pasta and Homemade Jalapeno and Cheese Ravioli

Here is the basic recipe I posted last October but I'm craving homemade pasta (before we start to do some low-carbing again).  Some of the products I use to make them into ravioli are at the bottom of the post if you are interested in learning more about them.

Jalapeno Pasta

2 1/4 c flour
1 t salt
1-2 t olive oil
3-4 eggs
2 - 5 small jalapenos (depending on how hot-spicy you want your pasta)

In a food processor bowl, place the salt and flour.  Put the top on and while pulsing or running on low, add a teaspoon-ish of oil and start adding eggs.  You probably only need 3 eggs so start with that.  Add your jalapenos.  I used 2 small jalapenos and the dough was so mild even children could eat it without spice.  If you know you like jalapeno's, use more.  Process until the dough forms a ball shape.  If it hasn't gathered itself in a ball by the 3rd egg, you can add another teaspoon of oil or water or use a 4th egg.  Water or additional flour by the teaspoon will give you the texture you need for it to be a ball.

Let it rest 10 minutes.  Then either roll very, very thin with a rolling pin or use a pasta machine.  I use a manual, hand crank pasta machine and starting with number 1, I run it through to a number 4.  You can then cut into thin noodles or use wide sheets to make homemade ravioli.

I roll my dough through a manual pasta machine

You don't need fancy fillings!  Cream cheese does just fine!

Rolling the pasta over the mold to seal the edges

Cooked in boiling water for about 5 minutes and drained

Serve with butter, an alfredo sauce or a marinara sauce - anything goes!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You might also be interested in some of the products I use;

         

The Best Fish or Shrimp Tacos (NEW! An option to use a store bought fish instead of marinating your own!)

Fish taco with cabbage and sauce

UPDATE with an OPTION:  the parmesan crusted Tilapia from Sam's Club (and I think also at Walmart) is a great low carb option if you don't want to marinate and grill your own fish.  It works GREAT in this recipe; just pan fry or oven bake it and serve as below.
 

Fish or Shrimp Tacos 

1/4 c olive oil
2 T white vinegar
2 T lime juice
zest from 1 lime  (low carb, leave this out)
1 1/2 t honey  (low carb, use 1 1/2 t natural sweetener)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 t cumin
1/2 t chili powder
1 t Old Bay seasoning
1/2 t pepper
1 t hot pepper sauce of your choice
1 pound fish - shrimp (cleaned, tail off), cod, tilipia, etc. 
flour tortillas (low carb - use your favorite low carb tortilla)

Whisk the ingredients for the marinade together, put in a Ziploc Baggy (or whatever you use to marinate) and add the shrimp and/or fish.  Refrigerate at least 6-8 hours, flipping every now and then so it's all covered equally.

While it marinates, make the dressing.

heaping 1/2 c sour cream
heaping 1/2 c mayonnaise
2 T lime juice
1/2 teaspoon each of oregano, dill weed, cumin, chipotle powder and ground or crushed coriander
2 small jalapenos, chopped fine (you can use less if you really hate spicy dressings)
2 t dried cilantro or parsley
1/2 teaspoon sugar  (low carb use 5 drops of sucralose or 1/2 t sweetener, etc.)

Whisk ingredients together and refrigerate until it's serving time.

Grill or broil your fish until flaky and done.  This is usually about 10 minutes.  Serve the sliced fish with sides of the sauce, lettuce, shredded cabbage, diced tomato, guacamole, and extra lime slices if you wish.  Enjoy!

I like to marinate in a ziploc as it's easy to flip and mix

Making the yummy sauce

The fish, sauce and cabbage come together... just right.

Lemon Vanilla Glazed Blueberry Cupcakes

Instead of frosting these, I opted to do a lemon vanilla glaze. Both would be good. You choose!

For the past 2 weeks I've been craving blueberries.  Perhaps it's the winter giving way to spring... I like blueberry and lemon in the spring!  Would it be bread, biscuits, cupcakes, pie, cake or crumble?  I wanted them all!  However, it's been incredibly busy around here and I kept putting off baking my 'blueberry something'.  This morning I had decided to make Blueberry Biscuits but instead, my daughter commandeered the kitchen to make a 4 cheese shrimp alfredo bake with homemade cheesy garlic bread.  No worries, I got the kitchen afterwards... except by then I changed my mind.  I decided to do a blueberry cupcake but instead of frosting, using a glaze typically put on blueberry biscuits.  The combination was oh-so-good.  Not too sweet.  Just right.


Lemon Vanilla Glazed Blueberry Cupcakes

3 1/4 c flour
1 1/4 c sugar
1 T baking powder
1/2 t salt
1/4 t baking soda
3/4 c butter
1/4 c oil (Canola, Grapeseed, etc.)
2 eggs
1 c buttermilk
1 c milk or almond milk
1 t vanilla
1 t lemon extract
1 1/4 c frozen blueberries dusted with flour

Glaze
1 c powdered sugar
1/8 c almond milk (or regular milk)
1 t vanilla
1 t lemon juice (1/2 t if you want more of the vanilla to shine through)

Preheat oven to 350.  Mix the dry ingredients well; flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda.  Melt the butter in a small bowl, add the oil and whisk in the 2 eggs.  Add the buttermilk and milk as well as the vanilla and lemon extract.  Add this to the dry mixture and whisk or use a low speed electric blender to mix just until blended. Dust the blueberries with a bit of flour to cover.  This helps them to stay suspended in the batter and not fall to the bottom during baking.  Divide batter  between 24 lined muffin tins.  Bake approximately 20-25 minutes until the centers are done.  Remove and let cool completely before dipping in the glaze (below) or frosting with your favorite frosting.

Glaze - Mix the sugar, milk, vanilla and lemon juice in a bowl with a whisk until smooth.  Dip the tops of the cooled  cupcakes in the glaze and let set until the glaze hardens. 

Frozen blueberries with the flour underneath before I mixed it up

Flour dusted frozen blueberries getting ready to be stirred into the cupcake batter

A simple glaze - powdered sugar, almond milk, vanilla and lemon juice

Dipping the cooled cupcake

You've had Potato and carrot versions, now a Rutabaga Gratin

Do you ever find a recipe tucked somewhere that you scribbled down and forgot about?  This is one of them!

I saw the boiling water and cashews listed in the first part of a file I saved and thought to myself, "What in the world starts with boiling water and cashews?"  I opened the file (which I had neglected to name) and read the ingredients.  Slowly it came back to me...  from over 3 years ago!  Yes, this recipe was supposed to be posted to my website to remind me to make it over three years ago.  Life happens.  But here it is.  I believe it may have originally came from wholeliving.  If you like 'gratins' like potatoes or carrot au gratin, perhaps this is one you want to try too.








Rutabaga Gratin


1 1/2 c boiling water
1 c raw cashews
1 T nutritional yeast
2 slices rustic bread, torn into small pieces or 1 cup prepare bread crumbs
2 small rutabagas (1 1/2 lb.), peeled and cut into about 1/8-inch-thick slices
salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 t chopped fresh thyme
4 t chopped fresh marjoram
1/4 t freshly grated nutmeg
1 T extra-virgin olive oil


In a medium bowl, pour boiling water over cashews and let sit until they soften, at least 15 minutes and up to 30. Stir in yeast. Puree mixture in a blender on highest setting until smooth and creamy, about 3 minutes. Season with salt to taste. Set aside.

If you don't have prepared bread crumbs, make them by pulsing bread in a food processor until coarsely ground. Set aside. 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cover bottom of a greased 8-inch-round baking dish with a single layer of rutabaga slices, overlapping edges and working in a circle. Season with salt, pepper, and some of the chopped herbs. Add another layer and season with salt, pepper, and herbs. Pour in about 1/3 of cashew cream -- enough to cover both layers. Continue until baking dish is full. Pour in remaining cashew cream. Sprinkle nutmeg over top layer. Toss breadcrumbs with oil in a small bowl. Top gratin with breadcrumbs.

Bake on a rimmed baking sheet until rutabagas are tender when pierced with a sharp knife and breadcrumbs are golden brown, about 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Springtime Carrot Cupcakes

I'm still in a cupcake kind of mood because frankly, I haven't been able to make cupcakes yet this week!  We have a lot going on right now and honestly, there just isn't enough hours in the day to accomplish everything that needs to be done so things like cupcakes are easy to put on the back burner.  But that bodes well for this blog because it gives me a chance to look up the many different cupcakes I've made and posted, and I can repost some of them to share with you as well as reminding me of their potential to be made again this weekend.

This one is a carrot cake, made into cupcakes and I like it because by adding little orange and yellow sprinkles, it gives this traditionally thought of as "Fall" dessert, a springtime twist.

Carrot Cupcakes or Carrot Cake

2 c flour
2 c sugar
1 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
1 t ground cinnamon
3 c finely shredded carrots
3/4 c oil
4 eggs

Combine the dry ingredients and then add the carrot, oil and eggs. Mix with an electric mixer until combines (about a minute or two). Pour into 2 greased 9" round pans or 2 cupcake pans with liners. Bake at 350 for approximately 25-35 minutes depending on the size of the pan. When the centers are done, remove and cool completely before frosting. This cake is best with a cream cheese frosting but I've post another version below as well.











The frosting I used on the cupcakes in the picture above is;

1 c shortening
1 c butter
4 c powdered sugar
3/4 c marshmallow cream
4 t vanilla extract

Beat on low 30 seconds and high 2-5 minutes until it looks like whipped cream.

50's theme party cupcakes!

Let's go back to the 50's tonight!  It's a soda fountain 'malt' (shake) in a cupcake!   If you are a regular visitor to my blog you may have caught this posted once before.  But I've decided perhaps this week will be a cupcake kind of week, so I went to the search engine (to the right) and typed in cupcakes and kind of went, "Oh wow, I've posted a LOT of cupcake recipes!"  This one isn't a recipe so much as a decorating idea.  (Recipes will come later this week) so you can use your favorite recipe or search for one of my to the right in the search bar.  I have all kinds of recipes, including some low-carb and sugar free.  Or, use a cake mix.  The idea behind this post is mostly just an idea to pull off an easy and quick dessert for a 50's Rock-N-Roll themed party!

Rock around the clock, root beer floats, saddle shoes and poodle skirts! Easy to make; I made and decorated about 50 cupcakes for 50's themed event and not one was leftover.

Cupcakes: baked and cooled completely
Plastic straws and scissors
Frosting with a round 'O' shaped tip and decorator bag
Maraschino Cherries in a jar - drained and dry
Sprinkles

Cut the straws down about 3-4 inches to make them shorter 

and bend the sipping end

Walmart sells cherries with the stems still attached!

Swirl frosting on each cupcake.

Top with a cherry and sprinkles and finish it off

with a bendy straw!

A malt-shop cupcake!

Lithuanian Torte (or a Napoleon Torte) 20-22 layers of flaky pastry and creamy vanilla filling!

Known as a Lithuanian Torte or sometimes a Napoleon Torte, it is layer upon layer of flaky, delicate pastry, a vanilla custard tasting creamy filling and just a hint of apricot between some of the layers.  To make this, be sure you plan for enough time.  It is on average, at least 10-12 layers of pastry sandwiched between 10-12 more layers of filling with layer of filling and pastry crumbs on top.  Each of the layers is rolled, pricked, baked and cooled one at a time so allow time to make the dough, chill it, roll it, bake it, cool it and then time to make the filling and assemble. 

I took some liberties with the old way of making the dough and used a food processor.  I took a chance by doing this, but I decided my favorite pie crust recipe could be made in a food processor, so why not this?  And in the end, I'm glad I did.  You don't have to though.  You can make it the traditional way if you are more comfortable with it.  I also don't like fruit in my desserts so I don't care for the thin layer of apricot glaze between a few of the layers.  It's subtle, but I don't care for it so I always use my fork to cut and eat around those layers when I've had this, and I leave out the apricot completely in my homemade version. 

Napoleon Torte (or Lithuanian Torte)

Dough:
1 c butter
4 c good quality white flour*
1 c sour cream
2 T cold water

Filling:
2 c whipping cream
1 c sugar
3 egg yolks
6 oz. butter
1 t vanilla
Apricot jam (about 1/4 cup)

To make the dough, combine the flour, butter, sour cream and water on a butcher block board and chop with a meat cleaver, turning often until it becomes a dough consistency.  Chop, don't knead, as the dough will not be flaky if you knead it.  I chose to use my food processor, as chopping/mixing the dough can take up to an hour or more to finish.  I place the butter, flour and sour cream in the food processor with the S-blade and pulsed it to combine.  Slowly adding 1 tablespoon of cold water at a time through the top feeder tube and stopping the water as soon as the dough comes together to form a ball.

Divide the dough into 8-12 equal parts.  Wrap each in plastic wrap or waxed paper and chill overnight.  The next morning, roll each out to a circle the size of a standard pizza pan. I rolled on parchment paper so I could transfer easily to a baking sheet to bake.  Prick the dough all over before baking each rolled layer for approximately 10 minutes at 400.  Have a lot of counter space ready as you bake each one individually as you need to let them cool completely and they are delicate.  I chose to make 10 layers pastry.

To make mine all uniform, I used the bottom of a 9" springform pan round and laid it on top of the hot pastry directly out of the oven.  I quickly scored and cut around it with a sharp knife while it was hot. I saved the cuttings in a bowl to crush later for the final top layer instead of making an extra disk to bake and crumble.  If you can roll perfect circles in uniform shape, you won't need to do this.

Make the filling:  Beat the whipping cream and sugar together and cool in the refrigerator.  Mix the eggs yolks and butter together and add vanilla.  Fold into the cream to keep it light and fluffy.  Note:  I didn't have 2 cups of whipped cream so I used 1 cup cream and 1 cup half and half.  Obviously this doesn't whip up stiff so I ended up making my own filling version using a frosting-type mixture similar to what I make for Red Velvet Cake.  It's butter, sugar, vanilla and then mixing it with a cooked and cooled flour/water mixture.  I added this to the eggs and cream to stiffen it up and it was wonderful and light and delicious.  You can really use any vanilla filling you like best but the one listed is simple and perfect if you have the whipped cream on hand.

To assemble, I chose to use a large 10" round springform pan but that is just me because I'm not making this to serve right away for an event and will be freezing it.  Most people just assemble it to serve.  Start with one pastry, spread a thin layer of filling and top with another pastry.  Warm the apricot jam to melt smooth.  Every third or fourth layer of pastry you can brush it with a thin layer of apricot glaze.  Continue until all the pastry layers and fillings are used up.  Top with a last layer of filling/frosting and cover in the crumbs from a crushed pastry or if you have scraps from cutting circles.  Chill.  This can serve about 26-30 people if  you need it to as it's very tall and rich and a small piece goes a long way!



*Some people may use Wondra flour.  I use White Lily.

I chose to make my dough in a food processor instead of a traditional way

You decide how many layers you want it to be but make it at least 8 or 10 and up to about 15

 

I decided to build it in a spring form pan as I am storing ours in the freezer and not using it all right away

 

Mine is 10 layers pastry and 10 layers filling with a top layer of crushed pastry for a total of 22 layers

This can serve from 16-30 people depending on how you cut it. It's rich and pieces should be small!

You might be interested in: 

Leak proof Springform Pan
Nordic Ware Leak Proof Springform Pan, 10 Cup, Assorted Colors
Beyond Gourmet Unbleached Parchment Paper