Hearty pork and kale soup with gourmet grilled cheese

I am sooo excited to be posting again!  I don't know why, but I haven't posted in a really long time.  Tonight I'm going to show you pictures of my not-so-tiny kitchen (after having been in this apartment for 10 months), and post 2 new recipes.  

Many of you know that I did the Whole30 diet (let's not call it a "diet" ... how about "eating plan"?) between May and June and have been trying to eat mostly paleo ever since.  You can read more about the paleo lifestyle and the Whole30 challenge here.  Today, however, I was in the mood for grains.  I wouldn't even say that I was craving them, because I wasn't.  I had oatmeal (pimped out oatmeal (added flax seeds, pecans, dried cherries, and organic brown sugar)) for breakfast, then I went to the store and bought bread and cereal!?  I haven't purchased those two things in probably 3 months.  I'm not just buying any old bread and cereal though - I'm looking for products that DON'T contain high fructose corn syrup, bleached flour, and many extra additives.  The bread I got is made with unbleached flour because I read an article that really creeped me out in regards to the bleaching process.  Neither it nor the cereal contains HFCS either.  I also bought these amazing dark chocolate ice cream bars and just had to eat one on the way home ... but let's not talk about that!

So here are pictures of my kitchen after a typical day of cooking:

It's not exceptionally clutter-free, but it is clean.  I really love this kitchen because it is just the right size for one person, I can eat in it, and it has 2 doorways and a semi-open concept.  

Now onto the recipes!  

Hearty pork and kale soup

serves 4-6

1 Spanish onion or 2 small yellow onions, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 lb pork (I used boneless chops), cut into 3/4" cubes

1 yam, 1/2" dice

3 cups chopped kale

4 cups low-sodium chicken stock

1 can white beans (Great Northern), drained and rinsed

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp rosemary

olive oil/refined coconut oil

salt and pepper to taste

Heat a large pot over medium heat.  Add 1 Tbsp oil, onions, and a pinch of salt and pepper.  Cook onions down until soft and slightly brown.  Add garlic and cook for 1 minute.  Add pork and cook until pork is brown on all sides.  Add in chicken stock, yam, kale, and more salt and pepper.  Turn heat down to medium low and cover for about 20 minutes, or until pork is cooked through and yams are tender.  Then add beans, nutmeg, and rosemary.  Cook for another couple of minutes.  Check for seasoning, then eat!

Grilled cheese sandwich with heirloom tomato

serves 1

2 slices white or Italian bread

Monterey Jack cheese, or any other cheese that melts well

2 slices of a good tomato

softened butter

Heat small skillet over medium low heat.  Butter one side of one slice of bread and place in pan.  Place sliced cheese on bread, then put tomato slices on top of cheese.  Butter one side of other piece of bread, and place it, butter side up, on the tomatoes.  Cook until golden brown on both sides and the cheese is melted and gooey delicious.  

Even though my sister said the sandwich looked like ham and lime jello, I swear it wasn't, and I swear even more that it was delicious.  Ham and lime jello would be disgusting. 

Fruit crumble

Since I have a 2-hour delay tomorrow, I feel like I have so much extra time tonight.  Weird, huh?  Well, I decided to make a fruit crumble with fresh pears, frozen mixed berries, and an orange.  Here is the recipe, which, by the way, is the perfect remedy for a cold night.

Fruit Crumble

serves 6

Filling
4 or 5 pears, peeled, cored, and sliced 1/4 inch thick
1/2 cup frozen berries
zest of one orange
juice of half of one orange
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp corn starch
1/4 cup white sugar

Crumble
1 1/2 cup instant rolled oats
1/4 cup flour
1 stick (1/2 cup) cold, cubed butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt

Combine filling ingredients in medium bowl and stir lightly until combined.  Set aside.  Put crumble ingredients in food processor and pulse until mixture is pea-sized.  Alternatively, cut butter into dry mixture with a fork or pastry cutter.  Lightly grease an 8x8 inch baking pan, and place filling mixture into pan.  Spread crumble mixture evenly on top.  Put in the oven preheated at 375 degrees for 40 minutes.  If the top is browning too quickly, cover with aluminum foil.

You may substitute any type of fruit, really.  For this size pan, there should be about 4 cups of fruit.

Healthy Happenings

I made butternut squash soup for the second time last night, and quinoa for the first time.  What I learned was: 

*I could not taste a difference between boiling the squash in chicken stock versus roasting it first.

*Adding yams and carrots added only a slight flavor difference versus just squash alone.

*I did not need to add cream or any type of (fattening) dairy product in order for the soup to be rich and satisfying.

*Quinoa is expensive, but much easier to make than rice.

Here is the recipe I used for the soup: 

Squash soup

Aaand my recipe for the quinoa salad is ... 

1 cup dry quinoa

1 14.5 oz jar chicken stock, plus 3 tablespoons water to make 2 cups

1/3 cup dried cranberries

3/4 to 1 lb cooked chicken, shredded into small pieces

5 oz goat cheese

3 TBSP olive oil

2 TBSP lemon juice

1 tsp Dijon mustard

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp salt

Heat the liquid just to a boil.  Turn the heat down to medium low and add quinoa, stir, and cover for 15 minutes.  In a separate small bowl, whisk together oil, lemon juice, mustard, salt, and pepper to make a vinaigrette. Remove quinoa from heat after the 15 minutes and add in cranberries.  Cover for 5 additional minutes.  Fluff with a fork and add vinaigrette, then chicken.  Crumble the goat cheese and stir gently to combine.  Makes 4-6 side dish servings.  

There are probably thousands of different combinations of things that you could put into quinoa.  Next time I might try something more savory, such as feta cheese, kalamata olives, and kale.

The Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie

Wow, it has been awhile since my last post!  Since then, I have moved closer to Pittsburgh and begun my third year of permanent, full-time teaching.

And I am continually on a quest to make the perfect chocolate chip cookie - soft and moist on the inside, with juuust enough crisp on the outside for a satisfying texture difference.

So here is the latest recipe:

2 1/4 c PLUS 2 tbsp flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
(add 1/3 c cocoa powder to flour mixture for double chocolate cookies)
2 stick room-temperature butter
1/2 c white sugar
1 c light brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla
2 large eggs
2 cups (a 12 oz bag) semi-sweet chocolate chips or chocolate chunks

Cream butter and sugars in a large bowl until light and fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes.  Add vanilla and eggs and mix until combined.  In a separate bowl, sift (or mix with a fork) flour, baking soda, and salt.  Add in three increments to creamed butter mixture and mix until just combined.  Fold in chocolate chips/chunks.  Drop onto cookie sheets, however big you'd like to make them!  Place on rack in 350 degree oven and start checking on them at 8 minutes.  They should be puffy, but give a slight crackle when you touch the top.  Remove from oven and set to cool for a few minutes.  Transfer to wire cooling rack to cool completely ... who am I kidding?  I ate three within the first 5 minutes!

The end result SHOULD be soft, gooey cookies with the slightest bit of crunch on the outside.

Late

Why?  Why do things never seem to work out the way I want them to, or they way they start out?  Why does everything that's really important have to be so hard?

A close friend of mine has often told me that women always want to fix - girls, is this true?  If you're a fixer, how do you stay happy in your relationship?  I guess I'm assuming that you, at least once, have felt the need to "fix" your man.

So often I think of my life in terms of song lyrics.  The song "Yellow" by Coldplay has always kind of been my song.  In my little girl fairy tale thoughts, I want my knight in shining armor to say, "Look at the stars, look how they shine for you ... "   Or how about "Green Eyes"?  I have green eyes ... "Green eyes, you're the one that I wanted to find.  And anyone who tried to deny you must be out of their mind. ... And honey you should know that I could never go on without you."  I know men say these types of things!!!

I'm sorry this post has been so disjointed, but I'm sure you can figure out some things that are going on with me right now.

I rarely stay up past midnight, and I still haven't given the kittens their milk ... so goodnight, and please comment.

Me.

OK, so here goes. 

The thought of putting very personal things out there for "everyone" to see just popped into my head a few days ago.  It's like someone was whispering, "You should do this, it would be good for you."  So I guess I should just start with a list of flaws/personality traits/things that make me me ... whatever.

(Not in any particular order)

1.  Sometimes when I make decision, I'll fret over whether or not I'll enjoy the outcome.  For instance, a friend asked me to work at a day camp this week.  It was only a week, but still, after I said yes, I worried about where I was going to park, how much longer it'd take me to get there with traffic, what would I eat, where would I eat, would the kids like me, etc. etc. 

2.  I can have firm goals set and be very determined ... for about a week or two, then it goes away.  Example:  I want to lose weight and was doing very well with going to the gym and eating right for about two weeks.  Now I'm back to trying to convince myself that I really like my body just the way it is.

3.  I'm not good with my money.  I spend too much sometimes and try to rationalize it.

4.  I would be content with laying around and watching TV all day.  In fact, that's pretty much been most of my summer.  Oh, sleeping in late too.  Should I feel guilty about this?  Should I feel like a waste of life for the 11 weeks that is my summer break?  Or should I feel that it's OK that I'm not doing much, that I deserve it and it's OK?

5.   I love my job, but what I've always wanted, ever since I was in elementary school,  was to meet my husband and live happily ever after.  I want kids too, but the husband part has been almost ever-present in my mind.  Future marital joy/love/peace/harmony/communication/JUST KNOWING THAT IT'S RIGHT is extremely important to me.  I want the fairytale.

6.  Last night, reading and watching videos about people truly hating on this whole Chick-fil-a thing made me cry.  Real tears.

7.  I still feel like I'm waiting for my life to start.

Maybe at least one of my friends out there, or who knows, someone I don't know, has been able to relate to me, and hopefully you feel better now.  I know I do.  I've just been having a lot of internal struggles lately, and it feels really good to put them "down on paper." 

More to come.

Trying Thai!

I am so excited about this post because tonight I made my first ever Thai dish!  I made Giada's veggies in yellow curry, and it was a great experience!  I had gotten the yellow curry in the Strip over the summer for like 2 bucks, and ended up spending about $4.50 on two cans of coconut milk at Giant Eagle.  I know it wouldn't be that expensive at an Asian food market.  In any case, those ingredients, along with two chicken breasts I added, were enough for five big servings.  (Side note - I now have two full weeks of lunches in my freezer!  Woot!)

The only changes I made to the recipe are: I used about six tablespoons of the yellow curry instead of the said 1/2 cup; I omitted the Serrano chili because I figured the curry paste would be spicy enough for me (it was); and I left out the lime leaves because I couldn't find any.  When I make this again, I'll make sure to go to the Strip and get those lime leaves, because the dish was just missing a little "something."

Those of you who know me well know that I'm not a spicy food person.  I love buffalo wings with blue cheese, and I enjoy mexican food, but the spice needs to be mild for me to enjoy it.  That being said, I've had curry now four times, and it is by far the spiciest food I've ever had.  But the fact that I like it enough to buy all those weird ingredients (fish sauce) to make it myself might be a sign that I'm coming around to spicy foods!

And now for the pictures!

The curry paste actually came in a bag inside of the container.  You can see it 

peeking around the corner on the right side of the coconut milk.

Was able to find this at Giant Eagle for about $2.50.  But it is stinky

and super potent.  And boy does it taste and smell like unpleasant fish!

But I guess it just adds depth of flavor to the dish since you only add a tablespoon.

It's not really "yellow"

My dinner!  I also ate several ... several ... spoonfuls of the curry straight out of the pot about 20 minutes after I'd finished my plate.  I made 1 dry cup of rice, which I used with four dishes (one for my dinner and the other three went in the freezer).  But I have enough curry left over for two more medium-sized portions, so I'll probably make some more rice tomorrow for lunch.

If you're scared to try making this, don't be!  If curry paste freaks you out, it shouldn't.  Some ingredients in the yellow curry are lemongrass, basil, and chili pepper.  Really, I don't do spicy, but I love this stuff!  The coconut milk is what makes it for me.  The potato was creamy, the carrots were soft and sweet, and everything just melded so well together.

I hope maybe I've encouraged you to branch out and try cooking something you never have before!  Have fun!