Thursday, April 22, 2010

in the kitchen lately

I have some food posting I've been meaning to do so here you go. This granola turned out yummy. I tried following the directions in How to Cook Everything, but toasting the oats on the stove didn't work for me (they started to burn) and I ended up adding a glug of oil before baking this in the oven because I just couldn't believe that granola with no oil would crisp up. I like the combination of ingredients I used--oats, pecans, coconut flakes, pepitas and dried dates--with cinnamon and maple syrup. So yummy! Of course with granola you can't really go wrong.
Sunday cooking included making a big pot of pinto beans (back burner) and a huge batch of broccoli soup for the lunches (front burner--there's a whole head of broccoli in there but it's towards the bottom).
The beans turned out to be the best beans ever! This was dinner Monday night: beans, Mexican rice, and homemade corn tortillas. I loved this meal. I made the beans following Kyrie's guidelines (here).
Here's how the broccoli soup looks after blending with the stick blender. This is the ideal lunch for me to take to work along with some fruit. I used the recipe from Apples for Jam but instead of potato I use cauliflower. So the soup (I call it the "diet" version) consists of: 1 head broccoli, 1 head cauliflower, 1 red onion, chopped, 6 cups water, 3/4 c. half and half, and salt to taste. I highly recommend it, it's yum.
In other kitchen news, we are having a green smoothie week. Here is our most successful combination: 2 oranges (we are so lucky to still have Cara Cara pinks on the tree!), one or two bananas, frozen mango chunks, one apple, and a whole bunch of kale and/or spinach. Then I pour over enough of the boys' diluted juice to make it easy to blend.
See how pretty? The thing is, I tend to leave out strawberries because they turn the color to a murky green at best. I like my green smoothies to be bright and pretty.
(The one he is drinking here has the strawberries--not as pretty).
The absolute best part is that all the children love these, including Faith. It makes me so happy to see them drinking their green elixirs, plus I love the family togetherness of gathering around to help mix up the smoothies after I get home from work. Green smoothie week continues through Monday. Won't you join us?

15 comments:

Andrea said...

Mmm...it all looks so yummy! I make granola with only maple syrup (no oil) and it really does crisp up (one cup syrup to six cups oats, plus whatever goodies you want to add...of course we're in Maine so syrup flows like water here...oil is probably a more economical way to go elsewhere). I've been reading about these green smoothies everywhere and am almost feeling brave enough to try one.

Anonymous said...

We do green smoothies sometimes but the mood has to be right. I haven't been wanting them as much since getting pregnant.

How lucky for you to have Cara Cara oranges. Those are my favorites. I might just have to move there.

Anonymous said...

I have been doing more greens in my smoothies too. I am glad to know that I should leave out the strawberries. I agree that a murky green is not appealing.

Annie

Kristen said...

I LOVE this post! Your dinners always look so appealing. I've never tried making a green smoothie, but I'm adding your ingredients to my shopping list.

Do you need any special equipment to make tortillas?

Mary Beth said...

Hi Kristen--yes, I have a tortilla press. Mine cost about $20 here locally but I'm sure they're less if you shop around. It is really cute and fun and the best part is that the boys can press the tortillas almost by themselves. I don't like acquiring a lot of gadgets, but I do like this.

Kristen's Raw said...

Green Smoothie week - love it! :) Green Smoothies rock!

Cheers,
Kristen

Little Ol' Liz said...

Yum, broccoli soup!
Another way to "diet" it is to use a can of fat-free evaporated milk. I use it often to thicken soups, gravies and sauces without adding in additional fats or carbs.

Evap. milk also can be whipped and sweatened like cream, in a pinch.

Denise C. said...

I am intrigued about your Mexican rice. Do you make that from scratch as well? As always, love your photos & blog! :)

Mary Beth said...

Hi Denise. Yes, I finally figured out how to make tasty and mild (for the kids' sake) Mexican rice from scratch. Would you like me to post how I do it?

Jars of Giggles said...

Yep we are also partaking in the green. My son loves the Hulk smothies daughter wants them pink so I do hers before I add the spinach makes me a tiny sad but I believe the longer I drink them the more likely she is to give it a go.

Please post mexican rice recipe and corn tortilla recipe :)

Kyrie said...

Yum, homemade corn tortillas!! Do post that and the kid-friendly Mexican rice. We usually just do plain brown rice (add in chipotles in adobo for the grownups).

Denise C. said...

I went back to the post last night, because I am interested in soaking & cooking beans from scratch. The links are no longer good, & I was wondering if you could do a post on how you do your beans? That would be awesome!

Denise C. said...

I went back to this post last night, I am intrigued on soaking & cooking beans. I tried the links, & they are no longer good. Would you please do a post on how you do your beans? Thanks!

Anonymous said...

Hi Mary Beth,

I, too, would love to have your bean recipe. I'm having the same problem as Denise above; the website is no longer there, and I checked Kyrie's blog for the recipe but couldn't find it. Thanks!

Kate

Mary Beth said...

Kate and Denise--yes, I will do it! Hopefully within the next week or so. Stay tuned. Sorry the link isn't working any more. Maybe she took it down.