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stygiantarot · 4 years

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Autumn Kitchen Witchcraft

(Originally taught on The Alexandria Archives 10/26/2019) Witchcraft in the kitchen is the art of combining a food or drink process and magical intention and correspondences. Whether it be by stirring, cutting, heating, kneading, or even chilling! Anything you make can be imbued with intention by deliberate actions or the combination of flavors you add. Correspondences doesn’t have to mean a specific ingredient; it just needs to be a specific association.

Ways of doing this:

spices, herbs: adding ones that have specific correspondences to what your intention is

stirring energy in or out: drawing and banishing with your own motions and personal energy

kneading energy into dough

cutting or brushing on sigils

letting an element do the energy work: the heat of a stove top or oven, the chilling of a fridge or freezer, the brewing of a kettle or crockpot

When it comes to Autumn it’s about the celebration of harvest and the warmth you bring into the house in dishes rather than outside temperature. There are a lot of ways to do this and many intentions can be focused on: health, prosperity, creativity, luck, love, etc.

The best way to incorporate the energies of Autumn is to think about what the season means to you in the kitchen. Is it about the rich warmth of stews and soups? The umami flavors of root vegetables? The scent of spices like cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, cardamom? The texture of caramelized apples, onions, or squash? Is it about certain drinks like cider or mulled wine?

And even if you don’t have memories of specific Autumn associations or you live in an area that doesn’t have a classic sort of change into a fall season; build your own! What helps you sort of wind down for the day? What gives you comfort and peace? That is the sort of food you should be focusing on. Much like spring and summer are about light, energizing and crisp foods; fall and winter are about those richer, unctuous and warming flavors. Foods that you want to curl up with and be lazy; enjoy at a slow pace while Netflix babbles in the background. Pair with a movie marathon and the company of a loved one or pet.

Easy Autumn kitchen witchcraft:

Carving a pumpkin and roasting the seeds (toss with salt, pepper, olive oil, garlic or paprika powder and a touch of Worcestershire sauce)

Mulling cider or wine (use a coffee filter for the mulling spices for easy cleanup!)

Crockpot stews and soups

Spiced cookies like molasses or gingersnaps

Herbed (or pumpkin or apple!) butter with a simple loaf of homemade bread

Roasted fall veggies like potatoes, squash, pumpkin, onions, eggplant, cauliflower, broccoli, Brussels sprouts

When it comes to more elaborately planned Autumn kitchen witchcraft, you might plan a special multi-course meal on a specific day where you have extra time to spend in the kitchen. It doesn’t have to be Master Chef level- even just a simple starter of homemade bread with a spread and pasta with homemade sauce (or “jazzed up” jarred sauce- no shame!) and cupcakes for dessert counts!

Don’t discount the chemical changes! Think about the intention you are going for and what would be the best method to achieve that, element-wise. I wouldn’t make a frozen dessert to bring luck or wealth into your life- you’re more likely to freeze it in its tracks! But if you’re looking to freeze an illness or soothe grief or a heartbreak- a chilly dessert is just the thing. I wouldn’t use a stew or soup for banishing or cleansing; those flavors have to meld and heat low and slow and draw everything together. Think about the action of the dish and the action of your intention and plan accordingly!

Let’s not discount the emotional feel of a dish either. Food is love; food is memory; food is home; food is the soul and heart and head all wrapped up. It can be a complicated relationship for sure. But it can also be a rewarding one if you approach it from the direction you most need.Feel free to start with teas that have a more Autumn flavor. Build into simple raw snacks like apples, pears, salads, nuts, seeds. Feel how the season gives light and love to your body as it fuels it. You don’t need to create a decadent high calorie meal in order to reap the feelings of fall.

Autumn is also a great time to try out some fermentation sided witchcraft. The life cycle of nature is winding down- mushrooms are rampant in forests, fallen trees soften and feed the ground. You could begin a bread starter, a mead or beer, or make some pickles! Or of course; there’s always fire cider! ( https://blog.mountainroseherbs.com/fire-cider ). Preparing to avoid illness and discomfort during the colder months is an inherent part of the shift in kitchen witchcraft as well.

Don’t push yourself too much; often cooler temps and less sunlight makes the desire to spend a lot of time in the kitchen mixed at best. That’s okay. It isn’t a competition or a race. A simple cup of tea or even a glass of water can be set in the windowsill for a moment to charge with the fall energy before drinking. Still counts! A piece of toast or a bowl of cereal can have honey swirled onto it with intent (think about making an infused honey with spices or herbs!). Still counts. As I say; you are the Witch, you are the Power, you are the Magic.

The rest is just the plating presentation of what’s already a fantastic meal.

(Fall fruits and vegetables list: https://www.thespruceeats.com/fall-fruits-and-vegetables-2217704)

#kitchen witchcraft #TAA #witchcraft lessons #autumn witchcraft #witchblr #witchcraft #fall witchcraft

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balkanradfem · 4 years

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Survival recipes!

Here's what you can do if you have little other than just flour, salt, sugar, oil and cocoa powder, and maybe some beans. Beans are important because after you cook them for an hour, you will be left with bean water, which is called "aquafaba" and is used in recipes as egg replacement.

Flour pudding:

you need: water, few spoons of flour, salt, sugar, cocoa powder and a stove.

More than half of water is put to boil (i use maybe half a litre altogether?) and some is put on the side in a bowl, left cold. Put few spoons of sugar, pinch of salt, and half a spoon of cocoa powder (or how much you like!) in the cold water, then add in flour slowly, while mixing it like you would mix a pancake mix. You want a pancake mixture consistency as well, not too dense because once you mix it in the hot water, it's going to get crazy dense! When you don't have any more lumps of flour in your mixture, wait until water is boiling and mix in your pudding mix. Stir and cook it for few minutes at most, be careful because it sticks to the bottom! If you have any fancy sweet spices like cinnamon and vanilla you can add them but I was okay without. Once this feels like pudding, it's done! Okay so it doesn't taste exacty like store-bought pudding, and its better if you add ton of sugar, but I have to say, this is insanely sating. This eradicates hunger. I do not get hungry right after eating this. I love it.

Tortilla pancakes

You need: flour, salt, oil, pancake pan.

Put flour in a bowl, add salt as much as you would for a bread (lets say 400g flour, one teaspoon salt? i think. you can add more, they never get too salty.) Add up from 2 tablespoons of oil, I wouldn't go lower than 2, but you can go higher, it will actually taste better with more oil! But if you don't want to spend much oil or make this too unhealthy, 2 tablespons will do. Add water and mix until you get a soft dough, it works with a tougher dough as well, but they're really soft and pleasant to eat if your dough is soft. Put a pancake pan to heat on the fire, but do not add oil to it. This is done without oiling or greasing the pan at all. Take a handful of dough and spread it on the counter, (sprinkle flour on the counter first so it doesn't stick, and you can use a clean bottle or something to spread it if you don't have tools). It's okay if your dough isn't perfectly thin, unless you're using this as a wrap. Move the thin dough to the heated pan, and it's enough to let it cook for a minute for each side. (like pancakes)

This is actually one thing I found incredibly tasty, and great replacement for bread! When I'm too tired to make bread, I can still make tortillas because it takes 5 minutes once you figure it out. You can also just sprinkle some oil and salt on top and eat it just like that.

Beans (or chickpeas or similar legume works)

Best way to stay good on protein levels is to cook a lot of beans, store them in tupperware in your fridge, and make different thing out of them every day. They last for a week in fridge. You can keep aquafaba frozen for a month, in fridge it will last a week in a closed container. This will be used for cake dough, pancakes, and little pasta things that go into soup, you could also make pasta with it, but I haven't tried! If you own an electric whisk you can beat it into a cream, mix with sugar, cocoa powder or any sweetener and have a great cake topping.

Now if you need ideas for how to eat beans so they still taste good after few days, you can try these:

Salad: mix with oil, salt, vinegar and sweet peppers powder (optional), add onions and garlic if possible. (you can add foraged greens like dandelion greens in it.)

Baked beans: put them in a hot pan with oil, salt, you're done in 10 minutes, extra great if you also do it together with potatoes.

Bean patties: mash your beans and add salt, little bit of flour and bread crumbs, garlic or onion (optional), if you have any herbs and spices like basil, paprika, rosemary, you can add those in but they will be great with salt alone if not. Make little patties with your fingers and you can roll them in bread crumbs, then cook in pan on oil until they're dark and crispy. I don't think anyone can get tired of eating those, they're delicious. Also good with rice.

Aquafaba pancakes

This is honestly just a pancake recipe and aquafaba is a replacement for eggs. The ingredients are flour, salt, sugar, water (you can use milk of course, if you have any), and aquafaba, but be careful to not put more aquafaba than water! They will stick to the pan sooo much if you do! The best mix is achieved by letting the pancake mixture rest in fridge for a bit, then it wont be so sticky and everything will mix better. But who has time for that. You make your pancake mix and enjoy making a huge mess over your stove. If you want, you can do this without aquafaba, pancakes taste extremely similar with only flour, water, sugar and salt, but with aquafaba you get a little extra protein, much nicer consistency, and that awesome brown spots pancakes have. No-aquafaba pancakes look very light yellow and pale-ish, and are slightly less sating.

Aquafaba cake dough

You need: flour, sugar (as much as you want), salt (half teaspoon), baking powder, oil or cooking margerine (or both) aquafaba, cocoa powder, any extra spice is great but optional (like cinnamon, vanilla, lemon juice)

I use equal amount of water and aquafaba for this, to get extremely fluffy and nicely risen dough. you could use less, or even use just aquafaba but if you do that, it will fall apart so much, it will get a bit harder to eat (very soft tho)! For oil and margerine, it works with any amount, it's just less sating if you add few tablespoons, and much more sating if you add more. I go with 150g of margerine usually.

Mix aquafaba, water (or milk if you got it), sugar, salt, spices if you got any, melted margerine or oil, and cocoa all together, then you can add baking powder and flour, and mix in more flour until you get nice creamy consistency, it doesn't have to get super dense, but you want it denser than your pancake mix. I usually mix it by hand whisk but electrical works too. Put it into oven at 150°C for about half hour, then check if it's all risen and dry. Now here's a trick, if you make a bit of coffee and sprinkle it on top of dough when it's done, it will taste so much better. If you have any citrus fruit like orange, spraying the dough with orange juice works amazing too! If you're super fancy and can add melted chocolate on top you got yourself a chocolate cake. Both coffee and orange juice go well with chocolate, but don't do both on one dough. You can also eat it without anything as it's still sweet and fluffy.

Now these are not extra amazing tasting things, but resources to use in times of crisis, depression, poverty, exhaustion. Each of them is fast to make and takes minimal resources and will keep you from being hungry. Hope you can use these for fun though :)

#vegan recipes #poverty recipes #poverty food #cooking #simple recipes #crisis food #depression food

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iambutteryum · 3 years

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Mussels in Spicy Tomato Sauce

If you subscribe to my Monthly Newsletter, you know my oven has been broken for more than a month now. Parts for my discontinued range are hard to come by, and even though internal parts are sometimes interchangeable between makes and models, the pandemic has added another wrinkle by greatly limiting the availability of parts that contain a microchip. Thankfully my stove top still works so we’re not starving. All this to say, I’ve been very uninspired as far as recipe development goes. I’ve either been cooking very basic things that aren’t worthy of being shared, or I’ve made things that are already published here on the blog which is why you haven’t heard much from me lately…

BUT all that changes today as I share my personal recipe for Mussels with Spicy Tomato Sauce, which happens to be one of my youngest daughter’s favorite meals. Seriously, it’s one of those recipes where nobody talks at the dinner table because they’re all too busy stuffing their faces and making scrummy, nummy, yummy noises as they eat. Yes, it’s that delicious!

Serve the recipe alone with lots of crusty bread to soak up all the delicious sauce, or serve it over a bowl of pasta. Check out the “Notes” section below the recipe to find out how many pounds of mussels you need per person, as well as lots of other helpful tips.

Another thing to consider - this recipe is a little involved so you might want to save it for a weekend. If you must have it on a weeknight, you can streamline the process by chopping all the veggies and making the sauce 5 or 6 days ahead (be sure to store in airtight containers as there’s a lot of onion and garlic that could perfume the inside of your refrigerator!).

To make the sauce, gather all your ingredients (ignore the sliced garlic - it won’t be needed until we cook the mussels). I purchase my pancetta already diced, and I use a press for my garlic, but the onions require a bit more effort as they need to be very finely minced. I really think finely minced is the way to go here - the pieces should be small enough that they enhance the texture and body of the sauce - you can’t achieve that with larger pieces of onion (click on the photo of ingredients to get a better look at how finely minced the onions are).

In a 3 or 4-quart saucepan over medium-high heat, saute the olive oil, onions, pancetta, garlic, oregano, crushed red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper together for several minutes until the onions soften and become translucent in color.

Add the tomato paste and saute for another minute or two. I love tomato paste that comes in a tube, and I especially love storing the tube in a tube squeezer. It’s so fun to twist out the exact amount of paste I need.

Now add the white wine, crushed tomatoes, and a whole sprig of basil. Simmer for about 30 minutes and set aside until needed. On its own, this sauce is the bomb, but just wait until we add all the yumminess still to come. Oh my!!

Now for the mussels. Soak them in cool water for 15 minutes, then scrub and rinse them, discarding any that are broken or open ones that don’t close within a minute or so of tapping against the shell. If you find any “beards” attached, pull them off using your thumb and the edge of a sharp knife (or use a clean pair of tweezers).

To cook the mussels, heat the olive oil, finely minced onions, and crushed red pepper flakes over medium-high heat for several minutes until the onions are translucent. Then add the sliced garlic and saute for 1 minute.

Immediately stir in the white wine and bring to a boil; reduce liquid by half.

Stir the full tomato sauce recipe into the reduced oil/wine mixture; stir to combine. Stir in the cleaned mussels, being sure to coat well with the sauce (it’s okay if some mussels are submerged under the sauce).

Cover the Dutch oven and allow mussels to cook for 4-5 minutes; uncover and stir to be sure they’re all open. Discard any mussels that fail to open after cooking. Sprinkle liberally with chopped fresh parsley and serve immediately over pasta or with lots of crust bread. See notes below to how to store and reheat leftovers.

Have plenty of extra napkins on hand. Enjoy!

Items used to make this recipe:

*affiliate links

4 quart saucepan https://amzn.to/3ehXbqa

5.5 quart Dutch Oven https://amzn.to/3efiA3o

7.25 quart Dutch Oven https://amzn.to/3eeVD09

garlic press (all stainless and dishwasher safe) https://amzn.to/2RJIrJ3

tube squeezer https://amzn.to/3xjzSoO

my favorite chefs knife https://amzn.to/3ed2aIU

Muir Glen tomatoes https://amzn.to/3eeCdIW

SMT tomatoes https://amzn.to/3ejOQSK

Cento tomatoes https://amzn.to/2QIES5C

Pomi tomatoes https://amzn.to/3x6HyKN

Mussels in Spicy Tomato Sauce

makes 5-6 servings (8-10 if serving over pasta)

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

For the Sauce:

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 cup finely minced onion

4 ounces pancetta, diced (1/4-inch pieces)

2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper

1 tablespoon tomato paste

3/4 cup white wine (see notes for substitution)

28 ounce can crushed tomatoes (suggested brands listed above)

1 whole sprig fresh basil

For the Mussels:

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup finely minced onion

2 cloves garlic, sliced thinly

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1 1/2 cups white wine (see notes below for substitution)

5 pounds mussels, cleaned and de-bearded

chopped parsley for garnish

pasta or crusty bread for serving

Directions

To make the sauce:

Add the tomato paste and saute for another minute or two before adding the white wine, crushed tomatoes, and sprig of basil; simmer on low for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

To prepare the mussels:

(see notes below for instructions on how to clean mussels) In a 5.5-quart dutch oven or larger, heat the olive oil, finely minced onions, and crushed red pepper flakes over medium-high heat for several minutes until the onions are translucent; add the sliced garlic and saute for 1 minute.

Immediately stir in the white wine and bring to a boil; reduce liquid by half.

Stir the full tomato sauce recipe into the reduced oil/wine mixture; stir to combine.

Stir in the cleaned mussels, being sure to coat well with the sauce (it’s okay if some mussels are submerged under the sauce).

Cover the Dutch oven and allow mussels to cook for 4-5 minutes or until all the shells open, stirring to be sure all the shells are open (discard any mussels that fail to open after cooking).

Sprinkle liberally with chopped fresh parsley and serve immediately over pasta or with lots of crust bread. See notes below to how to store and reheat leftovers.

Notes

If you don’t have white wine, you can substitute 2 parts low or no-sodium chicken stock and 1 part white wine vinegar).

Store fresh mussels in an open container (or in their mesh bag placed on a tray), draped with a damp towel for 2-3 days. The mussels need to breathe so be sure to remove any plastic wrapping right away. They’ll also release water as they sit so be sure to pour that off as it accumulates.

To clean mussels, soak in cool water for 15 minutes, agitating them every few minutes, then scrub well with a brush or sponge and rinse. Do not allow mussels to soak for more than 15 minutes. No need to add flour or cornmeal to the water. It’s completely unnecessary.

When washing fresh mussels, discard any that are cracked, broken, or do not close within a minute or so of tapping on its shell.

Pull off any stingy “beards” by grasping with your thumb and the edge of a sharp knife, or use a pair of clean tweezers. Don’t do this until right before you cook the mussels.

After cooking, discard any mussels that have not opened.

To store leftovers, separate the mussels from the sauce and store each in its own airtight container.

To reheat leftovers, heat the sauce alone, then stir in the mussels to gently heat through. If you have a large amount of sauce, you can stir the mussels with their shells into the hot sauce. If you don’t have a lot of sauce, remove the mussels from their shells before stirring them into the hot sauce.

Plan on purchasing 1 pound of mussels per person if serving alone as a main entree. Plan on 1/2 pound per person if serving over pasta.

I developed this recipe using 5 pounds of fresh mussels (in their shells), but you can use anywhere from 3-6 pounds of fresh mussels without having to reduce the amount of sauce in the recipe. Note - if cooking 6 pounds of mussels, use a 7-quart dutch oven (5 pounds or less can be made in a 5.5-quart dutch oven).

Leftover sauce can be frozen for use later, or use it as a braise for your favorite mild white fish (cod, grouper, haddock, etc). I suggest serving the fish and sauce over rice.

#seafood recipes #shellfish recipes #dinner recipes #fish and seafood recipes #italian recipes

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secrethauntedcollect · 5 years

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Really Good Homemade Pizza

it’s PIZZA TIME

recipe from America’s Test Kitchen, but with better & more helpful instructions written by me

These are good pizzas, not like, “it’s a fine effort for being made at home” sort of pizza. These are Fucking Good Pizzas. No part of it is too difficult, and if you’ve never made your own pizza dough before, don’t worry! It’s easy! Even easier than bread, and bread is really easy to make.

While the time required for this recipe is 12+ hours, that’s mostly just letting the dough rest in the fridge overnight to allow its flavors to develop. The hands-on time is maybe 20 minutes, generously. If you want fucking good pizza, you gotta have a little forethought. Make the dough the night before. It comes together in like 15 minutes (and that’s with 10 minutes of wait time.)

The sauce is no-cook, saving your stovetop from getting covered in splats of tomato sauce. Just whir it together in a food processor & you’re good to go.

INGREDIENTS

makes enough for 2 pizzas

DOUGH

3 cups bread or all purpose flour 2 tsps sugar 1/2 tsp instant or rapid-rise yeast 1 1/3 cups ice water 1 TBS vegetable oil (olive is fine) 1 1/2 tsp salt

optional: ~2 tsp dried rosemary

SAUCE

1 14 oz. can whole or diced tomatoes 1 1/2 tsp olive oil 1/2 tsp red wine vinegar 2 garlic cloves 1/2-1 tsp salt (as needed, depending on if your canned tomatoes are salted or not) 1 tsp dried oregano 1/4 tsp pepper

TOPPINGS

1 oz grated parmesan (1/2 cup) 2 cups grated mozzarella a little bit of garlic powder, basil and/or more oregano dusted under the cheese

optional: whatever else you like on a pizza

INSTRUCTIONS

FOR THE DOUGH

1. Combine flour, sugar and yeast in a bowl. Slowly add water, a little at a time, and mix (with a spoon or fork) until it comes together. Let rest for 10 minutes (this lets the yeast start to act without the salt, added later, inhibiting it.)

2. Add oil and salt to dough, mix. Transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead just a little bit until smooth, maybe 1-2 minutes.

3. Shape dough into ball, place in an oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 12 hours. It can be stored for up to 3 days; the longer it’s stored, the more the flavor will develop. It might taste sort of ‘sourdoughy’ at the end of 3 days, or smell a little beer-y. That’s okay!

FOR THE SAUCE

1. Dump all sauce ingredients into a food processor and pulse until smooth, about 30 seconds. If you’re unsure about the salt, add a little, pulse, taste, and repeat until it tastes just right. Store the sauce in the fridge until you need it.

note: I swear by those fancy Muir Glen canned tomatoes. You can coupon them/get them on sale fairly easily at Target (weirdly enough). They taste fucking phenomenal. If you can get your hands on some of those, I recommend it. I can always tell the difference when I use Muir Glen canned tomatoes in a recipe.

TO BAKE

ATK wants you to use a pizza stone, which I think is one of those niche, ridiculous kitchen things to own. I certainly don’t have one. This is my method for baking, which works wonderfully. You can use a round pizza pan or a large baking sheet pan. If you don’t have anything that can accommodate a 12” pizza, you can use a smaller pan and just make two small pizzas.

1. 1 hour before baking, take the dough out of the fridge to let it rise. Divide into two sections; roll each into a ball and place on a lightly greased baking sheet. Cover with a damp towel or plastic wrap (but not too tightly). This dough doesn’t have much yeast in it, so it won’t double in size, but it will expand outward, so make sure to space them out so they have enough room.

proofing notes (important!) : you can run into proofing problems in cold seasons and climates. If you want to help your dough along, you can try putting your tray in front of a heater vent. if kids/pets are a problem, you can proof it in your oven. DO NOT turn the oven on. Just boil enough water in a kettle to

fill a standard cereal/soup bowl. Place that bowl in the bottom rack of your oven with your tray of dough on the rack above. Fill the bowl below with boiling water, then close the oven door and let proof for an hour. The water helps raise the temperature of the oven, and the steam keeps the dough moist. This always works wonderfully here in the PNW when i’m making bread in the winter.

2. Once bread is done proofing, preheat oven to 450 F. Coat one ball generously with flour and place on a floured surface. With your fingers, gently flatten into an 8” disk, then, using your hands or a roller, stretch out to 12”. It doesn’t have to be perfectly round, and if you have a narrow cutting board, a rectangle-ish pizza is perfectly fine as well.

3. Pour 1/2 cup of sauce into the centre of the dough, then spread out evenly with the back of a spoon. Cover with 1/4 cup of grated parmesan. If you want, you can shake some garlic powder, basil, italian herbs or more oregano over the cheese for some extra flavor. I did this & it was very tasty. Then sprinkle 1 cup of shredded mozzarella. Add additional toppings, if using.

4. Bake in the oven for about 10 minutes at 450. Some of the cheese should be getting golden, and it might look “pretty much done” but trust me…. it’s not. We want GOOD done. We want beautiful. We want to turn the fucking broiler on.

*this next step uses the broiler, so the technique may be slightly different depending on your oven*

5. Very carefully remove pizza from oven. Take middle rack and put it right under the broiler, then turn the broiler on. Return pizza to oven, nestling it right under that top heating element. Set a timer for THIRTY SECONDS. Yes that it’!! Cook it in 30 second intervals until it’s as golden as you like. Yes, just 30 seconds. You can really really quickly burn stuff under the broiler. You might burn some pepperoni edges this way (but isn’t that super tasty??)

6. Once the top’s looking good, take it out. Let rest 5 minutes before devouring.

Any other notes?

You can freeze half this recipe really easily. Once the dough has proofed, wrap one ball tightly in cling film and place in the freezer. It’ll keep for 3 months. Leftover sauce can likewise be frozen in a tupperware (make sure there’s not a lot of headroom, this can cause frostbite.) Even left over cheese can be frozen.

The cheese pizza I made up there came out to using about $3 worth of ingredients. Maybe just a little under $3, because I coupon a lot and buy as much from the bulk section as I can. That’s cheaper than a frozen pizza and it tastes as good as your locally owned, mom&pop, really fucking nice pizza that costs ~$20

#recipes

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princessspy566 · 4 years

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Hokkaido Bread + Sandwich Fillings

Ingredients (for Bread):

First Proofing:

600 g of bread flour (at least 12~14% protein)

42 g of egg white (approx 4 1/2 tbsp)

7 g of dry yeast (approx 1 1/8 tsp)

168 g of heavy cream (approx 3/4 cup)

190 g of whole milk (approx 3/4 cup)

12 g of unsalted butter, room temperature

18 g of sugar (approx 4 tsp), or 2 tbsp of sweeten condensed milk*

Second Proofing:

7.2 g of salt (approx 1 tsp)

5 g of dry yeast (approx 1 tsp)

90 g of sugar (approx 7 tbsp)

50 g of egg white (approx 5 tbsp)

36 g milk powder (I didn’t add this)

12 g of butter, room temperature

To finish:

40 g of browned butter

sea salt

egg wash

Directions:

Combine heavy cream, whole milk, butter and sugar in a bowl and warm it in the microwave to 110ºF. In a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment, combine bread flour, dry yeast, egg white and the warm milk mixture, then knead until smooth on medium speed. You could either now proof the dough in the fridge for 18 to 24 hours, or under room temperature for 1 to 2 hours until doubled. I placed my dough over the warm espresso machine to proof and it took approximately 2 hours for the dough to double.

Once the dough has doubled (or kept in the fridge overnight), take it out of the bowl and punch out the air. Cut the dough into small “bite-size” pieces and return it to the stand mixer with a dough hook. Add the salt, dry yeast, sugar and egg white (save the butter for later) and turn the mixer on medium. Work the dough until it is smooth and elastic (approx 5 min), then add the room temperature butter. Keep the mixer on medium and work the dough for another 3 min. The dough shouldn’t be sticking to the side of the bowl too much. If it does, add another couple tbsp of flour. Then turn the mixer on medium high and work the dough for another 6 to 10 min. The dough should pull away from the mixing bowl and making “slapping sounds” against the bowl.

When you are done, the dough should be in a state where it isn’t too sticky, but just moist and developed enough gluten that you could slowly stretch it into a thin, translucent film without breaking (see the pictures above). Divide the dough into 2 equal portions and let it rest for 15 min if it was proofed under room temperature, OR 30 min if it was kept in the fridge overnight. During this time prepare the browned butter. Melt the butter in a small sauce pot over medium heat. It will start to foam, then turn brown and smell nutty. Turn off the heat and set it aside.

Once the dough is rested, take 1 portion of the dough (keep the 2nd portion covered in plastic wrap) and divide it into 3 equal parts. Roll each part into an oval shape, then fold the sides toward the center (like folding a letter) and roll it out again into a long rectangle, then curl it up like a snail. Repeat the same step with the 2nd portion and let the dough pieces rest for another 15 min (you should now have 6 pieces of dough, 3 pieces for each portion).

I formed the 2 loafs into 2 different shapes, 1 that’s braided and 1 that’s not. To make the braided shape, roll 1 piece of dough out into a oval shape again. Brush the top of the dough with the browned butter and sprinkle with some sea salt, then roll it into a long log. Repeat the same step with the other 2 pieces, which will give you 3 long logs. Braid the 3 long dough like braiding a ponytail, and set it inside a loaf pan. OR for a traditional loaf, after brushing the dough with browned butter and sea salt, you could fold it again and curl it up like a snail, and set it side by side in a loaf pan.

At this point, I put the un-braided loaf into the freezer and kept the braided loaf under room temperature to proof. To bake the frozen loaf, take it out of the freezer and set it inside a loaf pan in a warm spot. Let it completely defrost and proof until it has expanded to 80% full. This will take several hours.

Preheat the oven on 360ºF/180ºC. Let the dough proof to 80% full (not doubled which will be 100%). This took another 1:30 hour in my kitchen. Brush the dough with egg wash and cover the loaf pan with aluminum foil. Bake in the oven for 20 min, then uncover the foil and let it bake for another 20 min until golden brown on the top. The loaf should expand significantly in the baking process.

You could take the loaf out of the pan and let it cool on a rack for 20 min. I personally think it’s a crime not to eat it while it still retains its warmth from the oven. You wouldn’t believe the stringy and chewy texture of this milk toast. It doesn’t need any jam or butter. It’s good enough to be a snacking bread on its own.

Filling Ideas:

Strawberry Sandwich

2 slices of the fluffiest white bread, preferably shokupan/hokkaido

1/2-3/4 cup lightly sweetened softly whipped cream

6-9 strawberries

Directions:

Cut the crusts off of the shokupan. Spread out a generous layer of whipped cream on both slices of bread. Top one slice with the strawberries, being sure to align so that when you slice, the strawberries will show.

Place the second slice of bread, cream side down, over the strawberries. Smooth the outside edges, adding extra whipped cream into the spaces, if necessary. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 15 minutes.

Use a very sharp knife to cut and enjoy!

Egg Salad Sandwich

4 large eggs

salt, to taste

1-2 tablespoons kewpie mayo, or to taste

2 slices fluffy white bread, crusts trimmed

Directions:

Remove the eggs from the fridge as your bringing your water to a boil.

Prepare an ice bath with a large bowl of cold water and ice.

Bring a pot of water to rolling boil, then turn the heat down and gently add eggs in, with a slotted spoon. Turn the heat back up to medium high and maintain a simmer for 7 minutes. Remove 2 of the eggs, and leave the remaining 2 eggs in for another minute and a half.

Plunge the eggs into an ice bath to cool down. Peel the eggs: Gently tap the wide end of the egg on the countertop, then flip around and tap the pointed end. Gently roll the egg and peel, under running water, if it helps.

Cut the 7 minute eggs in half and set aside. Place the remaining two eggs in a bowl and use a fork to crush with the mayonnaise and a sprinkle of salt until a rough paste forms. Taste and adjust the kewpie mayo and salt.

Spread an even layer of egg salad on one slice of bread then arrange the cut eggs on the salad, nestling in gently. Top with the remaining slice of bread, then cut into three, being sure to cut perpendicular to the yolks, so when you turn the sandwich, you see the yolks.

Chicken Katsu Sandwich

½ cup mayonnaise

¼ cup chopped bread-and-butter pickles

2 Tbsp. plus ¼ cup hot sauce, such as Crystal

1 tsp. kosher salt, plus more

½ cup all-purpose flour

3 Tbsp. cayenne pepper

2 tsp. garlic powder

1 large egg

2 cups panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)

4 skinless, boneless chicken thighs, lightly pounded to ½" thick

¼ cup (or more) extra-virgin olive oil

8 slices milk bread

Shredded iceberg lettuce (for serving)

Directions:

Combine mayonnaise, pickles, and 2 Tbsp. hot sauce in a small bowl. Season with salt; set aside.

Combine flour, cayenne, garlic powder, and remaining 1 tsp. salt in a medium bowl. Whisk egg and remaining ¼ cup hot sauce in another medium bowl. Place panko on a large plate. Working one at a time, dip chicken into flour dredge, turning to coat. Shake off any excess. Dip into egg mixture until coated, shaking off excess. Dredge in panko, turning to coat. Transfer to a large plate or a small rimmed baking sheet.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high until shimmering. Working in 2 batches, cook chicken, reducing heat to medium if it’s browning too quickly, until golden and very crisp on both sides, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer to a wire rack.

Spread reserved spicy mayo on one side of each slice of bread. Top with chicken and shredded lettuce, then close up sandwiches.

#lammas sabbath recipes #bread magick #grain magick #picnic magick #kitchen witch recipe #witchblr #kitchenry #witch #witchery #witches #lughnasadh #lughnasadh sabbath #harvest magick #sabbath recipes

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abramsbooks · 5 years

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RECIPE: Chicken pot pie (as featured in From Scratch by Michael Ruhlman)

I grew up thinking these things came in a Swanson box. It was a customary dinner on a Saturday night when my parents were going out and a babysitter was on her way. In fact, pot pie is one of the best ways to create a meal out of leftovers. Use the chicken carcass to make stock that will become the base for your sauce, but only after picking it clean of meat. If you have a couple cups of chicken left over, this recipe—with basic vegetables, a thick creamy sauce, and crisp crust—is wholesome and hearty, nourishing and economical.

Of course, I encourage you to make your own crust, so that it’s all from scratch, but a premade dough is fine for this recipe, which is all about the chicken and its sauce. The crust is tastiest if you blind bake the bottom crust before filling it, which is what I suggest—but this, like so much else in the kitchen, is up to you. Alternatively, you can do what many restaurants do: Fill individual oven-safe dishes or ramekins with the chicken mixture, cover with store-bought puff pastry, and bake.

1 recipe All-Purpose 3-2-1 Dough (see below) or 2 sheets store-bought pie dough

4 tablespoons/60 grams unsalted butter

1 onion, cut into medium dice

4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped

Kosher salt to taste

2 carrots, cut into medium dice

2 celery ribs, cut crosswise into ¼-inch/6-millimeter slices

6 tablespoons/45 grams all-purpose flour

2½ cups/600 milliliters Easy Overnight Chicken Stock (page 38 in the book) or storebought chicken broth

2½ cups/450 grams shredded or medium-diced cooked chicken

½ cup/70 grams fresh or frozen peas

¼ cup heavy cream

1 tablespoon fish sauce

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 large egg mixed with 1 tablespoon milk

Preheat your oven to 350˚F/175˚C.

Roll out half of the dough and line a pie plate with it. Cover it with aluminum foil or parchment paper and fill the plate with dried beans or pie weights. Bake for 25 minutes, then remove the beans and foil and bake for 5 more minutes to brown the crust.

Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add the onion and garlic, hit them with a four-finger pinch of salt, and cook till tender, about a minute. Add the carrots and celery and cook till they are heated and brightly colored. Add the flour and stir to cook the flour and ensure it’s well coated with butter. Add the stock, whisking to ensure the flour doesn’t clump. Bring the mixture to a simmer, then add the chicken, peas, cream, fish sauce, and pepper. Stir to mix all the ingredients. Remove the pan from the heat.

Roll out the top of the pie dough to your desired thinness. Fill the baked pie shell with the chicken mixture. Cover it with the remaining dough, pinch the edges around the rim to seal it, and cut plenty of steam holes. Brush the top with the egg wash and bake until the mixture is piping hot and the crust has browned, about 45 minutes. Let it rest for 5 to 10 minutes, then serve.

All-purpose 3-2-1 dough

This dough works every time if you weigh your flour; if you measure flour by the cup, you may need to add a little extra beyond the 2 cups recommended. But as long as it rolls out nicely without too much sticking, that’s all that matters.

“3-2-1” refers to the proportion of flour to fat to liquid, in that order. Thus, 12 ounces flour, 8 ounces fat, and 4 ounces water, an easy ratio if that fat is in the form of lard or shortening (or in a close metric version, which is even easier and shows the beauty of metrics as well as of ratios: 300 grams flour, 200 grams fat, 100 grams water). If those 8 ounces/200 grams of fat are butter, you need to take into account that butter contains roughly 15 percent water, a little more than an ounce, so you need to add less water, roughly 2½ ounces/70 grams, or just enough to bring the flour and fat together.

Doughs happen because of the gluten in flour, the protein that extends into long elastic strands, which link up to form bread dough and pasta dough. Fat shortens those strands, preventing the gluten from linking up, to give us something tender rather than chewy, crust rather than bread. Working the dough is necessary because you need some gluten formation so that it holds together; this is why dough must be so thoroughly kneaded. But work this dough too much, create too much gluten, and you can toughen the crust. Using ice water helps keep the fat in a solid rather than a liquid state.

But it’s really as simple as 1, 2, 3.

Makes enough dough to fill 2 pie shells or for 1 covered pie

15 ounces/450 grams all-purpose flour

10 ounces/300 grams unsalted butter, lard, shortening, or any combination thereof, cut into small pieces, cold or even frozen

5 ounces/150 grams (¼ to ½ cup) ice water (see the headnote; this quantity depends on the fat— whole butter has water in it, so you need only 2½ ounces/70 grams; shortening and lard do not contain water so you need the full 4 ounces/100 grams)

½ teaspoon kosher salt

Combine the flour and cold fat in a mixing bowl and rub the fat between your fingers until you have small beads of fat and plenty of pea-size chunks. (If you’re making a bigger batch, this can be done in a standing mixer with a paddle attachment, but remember not to paddle too much after you add the water, just enough so that the dough comes together.) Add the ice water gradually, and the salt, and mix gently, just until combined—if you work the dough too hard it will become tough. Shape into two equal-size disks, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes or up to 2 days, until you’re ready to roll.

An indispensable new cookbook from James Beard Award-winning food writer Michael Ruhlman

From Scratch looks at 10 favorite meals, including roast chicken, the perfect omelet, and paella—and then, through 175 recipes, explores myriad alternate pathways that the kitchen invites. A delicious lasagna can be ready in about an hour, or you could turn it into a project: try making and adding some homemade sausage. Explore the limits of from-scratch cooking: make your own pasta, grow your own tomatoes, and make your own homemade mozzarella and ricotta. Ruhlman tells you how.

There are easy and more complex versions for most dishes, vegetarian options, side dishes, sub-dishes, and strategies for leftovers. Ruhlman reflects on the ways that cooking from scratch brings people together, how it can calm the nerves and focus the mind, and how it nourishes us, body and soul.

For more information, click here.

#abramsbooks #abrams books #from scratch #from scratch cookbook #michael ruhlman #chicken pot pie #chicken pot pie recipe

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langblr-o-kebek · 6 years

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How to feed yourself cheaply when you live alone

It can be so frustrating and difficult to get used to living by yourself. Apparently cabinets don’t come magically stocked with spices and you have to buy things??? with money???? So here’s a few things I’ve learned along the way along with some links to other great posts that have information along this subject too.

1. Secretly assassinate a relative and collect inheritance

2. Find a sugar daddy

If 1 and 2 are options then the rest of this post is worthless to you, if they are not options, keep reading.

Your first visit to the grocery store Buckle up because it’s going to be the most expensive one

You need to stock your kitchen since you are not a roach and can’t just eat the wooden cabinets. Every kitchen should have some combination of the “basics” which will be your non-perishable pantry items-those things that your parents house seemingly never runs out of.

The Basics

-Rice -Pasta (+any other grains you might like such as couscous, wheat berries etc.) -Flour -Sugar -Brown sugar (if you’re into baking like I am) -Baking Soda -Baking powder -Spices (for example, cumin, cayenne, oregano, basil, paprika, etc.) -Salt and pepper -Oats -Boullion or cans of stock -Cans of soup/packets of ramen -Coffee/tea

I suggest you buy these kinds of items in bulk if possible. If you have the space to store them, they will last you forever and items like these can make a meal that is supposed to be 1-2 servings into somethings thats 4-6 which I’ll explain later. Also, buying in bulk is cheaper per pound/100 grams (whatever system you’re using) so in the long run, you’ll save lots of money by buying one fat ass sack of rice a year instead of 15 every few weeks. Check your area for bulk stores, places that sell spices and grains by the weight. This will save you cash and can be more eco-friendly if you’re able to use your own bags/containers.

Tips for meals

It is so much cheaper to cook a larger amount of food at a time than making something for each individual meal. This is because for the most part, you can’t buy ingredients sufficient for one serving at the grocery store and you don’t want to buy something you’ll only use once and then the rest goes bad and bye-bye money. Making a meal that will last you 3-4 days is not only cheaper, but also saves time since after the initial cooking, all you have to do is reheat a little at a time later. You can take this a step further and use grains like rice, pasta and couscous to “cut” the food thereby doubling the amount of servings you have. Below are some really easy recipes that I use that last me days.

Things you can make at home for cheap

HUMMUS! Bc it’s a great snack, filling, healthy and is stupid expensive at the store and stupid cheap and easy to make.

-1 can of garbanzo beans -2 T of tahini (you can leave this out if you want, tahini can be expensive) -1 T lemon juice -1 clove of garlic, minced -Cumin, paprika, salt, pepper

Literally throw it all in a food processor and blend. If it’s too thick, you can add more olive oil or save some of the water from the beans and add that as well. If you do that, less salt will need to be added. If you use dried beans that you’ve soaked and shit you will need more salt.

If you don’t have a food processor, you can heat the beans up and smash it by hand, it’s more effort and it may be chunkier but it works. Same goes for immersion blenders.

Fun ways to shake this hummus up

-Roasted Red pepper: Chop 1/3 C of roasted red pepper and add. Replace some of the olive oil with some of the juice from the pepper jar.

-Roasted Garlic: Instead of mincing a garlic clove, expose the head of the garlic (lol) and rub with a little olive oil, making sure it gets into the cracks (lol). Wrap in foil and roast at 400 degrees (~200 C) for 30-35 minutes. Garlic should be nice and soft when it’s done. Roasted garlic is sweet instead of biting like raw garlic so using a whole head is okay and you won’t die when you eat it.

-Artichoke heart+black olive: Chop up one can of artichoke hearts with however many chopped black olives as you would like

-Pesto: Add in at least one tablespoon of pesto

Now the question is, how do I eat my hummus and the answer is, there’s actually a billion ways

-Put it on a sandwich or wrap! -Dip celery, cucumber, carrots, peppers in it! -Eat it with pretzels or tortilla chips OR if you’re a cheap bastard like me, make your own tortilla chips by cutting up some tortilla rounds, brushing them with olive oil, sprinkling them with salt and bake at 350 for 10ish minutes. I usually put mine into the oven right when I turn it on and pull them out when the oven is preheated bc I can’t be bothered to actually figure out a proper cooking time. Whatever, this is way cheaper than buying chips and they’re more filling. You can also make tortillas, it’s cheap and simple, I find they taste better, but it is slightly time consuming. Here’s a recipe. -Eat it with a spoon wgaf you live alone no judgement.

Coffee Creamer

Hell yes you can make this at home. The basic is about 1 3/4 cup of milk (whatever kind of milk, the more fat in the milk the creamier the creamer) and 14oz of sweetened condensed milk. You can also add in a few drops of any sort of extract/honey or some sprinkles of cinnamon/nutmeg whatever suits your fancy! Here is a bunch of variations. Also put 1/4 of a teaspoon of cinnamon per cup of coffee in with your coffee grounds in the filter for a cinnamon scented coffee.

Popcorn

Well, we all knew this one. But honest to god it is so much cheaper and healthier to pop popcorn using a bag of kernels than it is to buy a box of microwave popcorn. Just pour some oil and a tablespoon of butter into a large pan, add the popcorn and cook covered over medium heat. As soon as the kernels start to pop make sure you start jiggling the pan to keep them moving so they don’t burn and ruin your pan. I’m pretty sure you can put the kernels in a paper bag in the microwave too. Throw salt on it, or even cinnamon and sugar cuz why not.

RULES FOR GROCERY SHOPPING

1. buying in bulk saves

2. Don’t buy in bulk if you can’t use it all before it expires-like yeast! Most expiration dates are pretty generous and you can actually continue using the product beyond the date (this amount of time varies, please for your own safety please google it). Yeast is the only food I know of that is true to its expiration.

3. Avoid superstores when possible. Most of the time, you’re paying for the convenience. Superstores are often more expensive because you’re paying for the convenience of doing all your shopping in one place.

4. Ethnic markets are almost always cheaper-especially for trendy things like Coconut oil (so cheap at indian food markets!!) Find Chinese, Arabic, Indian, Mexican food markets around you and split up your shopping accordingly.

5. MAKE YOUR OWN BREAD, it can be very easy. Google it.

6. Off brand is just as good as the rest

7. Coupons, grab them in the front of the store if available

8. Just because something is a good deal doesn’t mean you have to buy it. I don’t care if orange juice is on sale, I don’t drink a lot of orange juice. You know what’s cheaper than something being 50% off? Not buying it at all. It costs $0.00 to be smart.

9. Don’t make grocery shopping a habitual thing. By that I mean don’t go grocery shopping every Sunday or whatever. Go grocery shopping when you need to go grocery shopping. If it’s been a week but you can wait 4 more days, wait 4 more days.

10. Don’t buy fresh herbs, grow them. A packet of seeds is cheap. Plastic pots are cheap. Potting soil can be cheap if you can find a place where you can buy by the weight instead of a massive bag. Plant the seeds according to the packet. Things like basil need to be watered often. Things like rosemary and thyme are okay chilling a couple of days without it. Read the packets and google it. Also it’s so rewarding to watch your little baby plants grow. An herb garden costs $10 dollars at the most to make. Fresh herbs at the grocery store cost $2-6 per package. Fresh herbs make meals taste a million times better I swear to god it’s the best thing you can do for yourself. Growing herbs also helped me with my depression so bonus.

11. If shopping at a super store, as much as possible stay out of the “middle”. What I mean is, things you buy should come from the sections closest to the wall-these include the produce, meat, dairy and frozen vegetables. All the processed foods are in the middle and though some can be cheap, they’re not filling and you end up buying them a lot. Doing things like making your own hummus can keep you out of the middle aisles and it’s healthier. Things from the middle you may need though are tea, ramen, grains, soup, peanut butter.

12. Plan your trip. Thoroughly look through your fridge and cabinets to see what you’re out of. I even keep a little white board on my fridge where I write what’s in the fridge and what’s run out. Write down what needs to be replaced/what you need for the next couple of meals. Do not stray from the list when shopping.

13. Go to Marshalls or Winners or whatever equivalent for things like olive oil, K cups if you have a Keurig (oh fancy fancy) and cool pink salt. They also have other kinds of oils like sunflower and avocado, and even sometimes protein powders. It’s way cheaper there and you can buy a liter sized bottle of olive oil for like 7 dollars when it would cost at least twice that at a grocery store.

14. Do not have the same grocery list every week. Prices of things change, your list should reflect that. If you’re wanting to get some sort of fruit for a snack, don’t get apples every week. Get whatever is in season. The prices of fresh produce in stores and markets will reflect what’s in season (i.e. the cheapest things). Lucky for us Bananas are always in season and are a super cheap snack that people forget about. I often wait until they’re ripe, cut them up and freeze them to make smoothies.

15. Don’t be afraid of tofu. It’s cheap as hell and once you learn how to prepare it, can be a fantastic substitute for animal proteins if meat/fish are too expensive.

16. Don’t forget, so many foods can be frozen. If something is crazy on sale, don’t be afraid to buy more than usual if you are able to freeze it. Here’s a list of things that can be frozen. TBH here, in Canada, I buy those big 3L bags of milk and store the little baggies in the freezer.

Finally, go to Goodwill stores and thrift shops to find kitchen appliances, dishes, and cookware for cheap! The best 7 dollars I ever spent was on a crock pot. These stores have so many items that last FOREVER, like a good pan, or a classic cafeteria. Don’t think you can’t cook because you can’t afford the equipment. Kitchen equipment doesn’t have to be a huge investment.

That’s all I have for today. Good luck out there guys.

#tips #college living #cheap

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sanktaleksander · 6 years

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Because We Can

Pairing: Negan/J

Negan is a professor at a local university and happily shares his life with J, a woman who had been deeply unhappy before she met him. The years they’ve been together have helped to heal her wounds and lift her spirits and now something even better is in the couple’s future, all J has to do is tell Negan.

Mentions of pregnancy, Negan swearing, sex typical of Negan, including oral (female receiving) and vaginal sex.

Okay! This is for @crzcorgi , who has been having a tough time lately. I usually don’t write stuff like this but I tried my best and I really hope you like this. This is essentially my take on domestic!Negan, so he basically looks and has a few more Jason Crouse-like tendencies. I hope that’s okay. I also didn’t write it the normal way a reader insert is since it’s not my strength, so I hope that’s alright too. The title is named after a Bon Jovi song. Any mistakes are mine. Enjoy!

J hummed softly to herself as she stirred the pot of simmering tomato sauce. The whole house smelled of olive oil and Italian spices, along with the distinct scent of garlic bread baking in the oven. It wasn’t any of that frozen shit either, it was homemade. It had been raining that day but she couldn’t seem to bring herself to care. She had plenty to be happy about and thankful for, so no bit of rain was going to bring her down.

It had been a long time since she’d been this at peace. She’d had a long road and felt for a long time that nothing would ever fall into place. But then she’d met Negan and things had started to change.

Now, Negan looked like he belonged in a bar, or at least, his tattoos did. He had dark hair that curled a little at the front and a salt and pepper beard that fit his age. He had several tattoos on his arms and J would eventually find others elsewhere too. He looked almost like a biker, except his leather pants were traded for a dark button up and his black rimmed glasses gave him a softer vibe. There was a reason for this though, as he had once indeed run with the devil, riding a motorcycle and raising hell wherever he went. But a close brush with death during a bar shooting had made him rethink things and he’d somehow found his way into teaching. He was now a tenured professor of mythology at the local university.

That’s how he’d met J. One of his teaching colleagues was a friend of hers and she introduced them. It had been love at first sight. J, curvy with black hair streaked with purple and piercing blue grey eyes, had taken Negan’s heart before he even realized what was happening. They’d kissed on their first date and they hadn’t gone back.

That had been almost three years ago. Now they shared a home and J was in a much better place. She didn’t much like the idea that he had saved her, more like he had helped her realize how to save herself.

And today, today was probably the best day she’d had in a very long time. She smiled softly as she continued to cook. Negan was still asleep upstairs, he’d been awake all night the night before grading papers. She’d found him asleep at his desk in his home office and insisted he go and get some sleep.

Apparently the smell of the food had woken him, as she soon heard footsteps on the stairs.

“And what the hell is all this?” Negan’s hair was still mussed from sleep and he was just putting his glasses on.

“Spaghetti. I was going to make it for dinner but I couldn’t wait to celebrate.”

“Celebrate? What are we celebrating?” He wandered over to the stove, inhaling deeply. He snagged the spoon to taste test for himself.

J found herself blushing faintly. “I guess I should tell you.”

Negan raised an eyebrow. “Tell me what, sugar?”

J bit her lip, glancing down before meeting his eyes. “I’m pregnant.” She murmured softly, a smile again coming to her lips.

Negan froze, tongue on the sauce laden spoon. After a moment he set it down and turned to her, taking her hands. When he spoke, his voice was much quieter than normal, like he was afraid if he spoke too loud, the whole thing would turn out to be some sort of joke.

“You’re sure? Really fucking sure? Because I thought...I thought I couldn’t have kids. I mean, that’s why we never bother with a fucking prophylactic or birth control or any of that.” He squeezed her hands. “You think it’s true?”

“I’m already two weeks late and I’ve been feeling sick in the morning. I took two tests just to be sure and they both came back positive. My gut says yes.” She smiled even more, eyes beginning to water just a little. She wasn’t exactly the crying type but she’d always hoped for this and now she’d been lucky enough to find the perfect guy. Why shouldn’t she want to have a child with him?

Negan’s face broke out into grin, unable to hide his happiness. He immediately took his love into his arms, holding her tight. He leaned down to plant kiss after kiss all over her face and lips and she laughed when his beard tickled her skin.

“And you’re fucking right, we should celebrate.” This was whispered into her ear. “But I can think of way fucking better idea than food.”

“Oh? And what would that be?” J asked, already turning the heat off on the stove and covering the food for later.

He slid up behind her, wrapping his arms around her. “Oh I think you know.” He purred, hands starting to wander.

She couldn’t help giggling. “Let me guess. It involves us and a bed and definitely not sleeping.”

Negan nipped at her ear lobe, “My girl is so fucking smart.”

“Well? What are we waiting for?” She shifted and took his hand, tugging him toward the stairs.

As soon as she fell onto the bed, he was on her, pinning her arms above her head. She didn’t mind, she knew she could get free if she wanted to, he never tried to trap her without giving her a way out.

Negan kissed her deeply, pleased when she yielded beneath him and he was allowed to explore her mouth. When he moved on, his beard tickled her throat as he left hickeys and love bites on her neck. He was a little possessive like that, he loved letting people know that this girl was his girl.

As he went, she set about getting him out of his clothes. First came the shirt, tugged over his head and thrown somewhere to the left. He seemed to like this idea, going for her shirt and giving it the same treatment.

Her bra was quick to follow, his hands immediately coming to massage her breasts. She moaned softly when his thumbs grazed her nipples. But she knew he wouldn’t stop there and he didn’t, leaning down to latch onto one of her nipples, stroking it with his tongue.

J groaned in response, running her fingers through his hair, messing it up even more. Negan pulled back only to move and give the other nipple the same treatment. He then kissed down her chest and to her stomach, where he lavished extra attention.

“This excites you, doesn’t it?” She murmured, stroking his cheek.

He smiled, turning to kiss her palm. “Fuck yeah it does. Everybody always told me I’d never have kids. And now I get to have one with the greatest person I’ve ever met.”

“You’re too good to me.” She insisted, kissing him when he lifted his head.

“Nah, you deserve every fucking thing I give you, that’s for damn sure.” Negan shifted, grinding his erection down against her.

She laughed, “Someone’s eager, aren’t you?” She reached to slip Negan’s glasses off and set them aside. “You always forget those.”

“Good fucking thing I have you to remind me, sweetheart.” He set about ridding her of her pants and underwear, letting out a possessive sort of growl when he finally got her naked. J felt herself blush ever so faintly.

“You’re so fucking beautiful.” Negan was quick to take off the rest of his clothes then, revealed toned muscles and a dusting of hair all over. His cock wasn’t extremely thick, but it was long and already flushed red, curving gently upward. J still remembered the first time they’d done this and how it was like her ideal man had been plucked from her thoughts placed right in front of her. She still felt that way.

Negan laid himself between her legs, wasting no time in taking her into his mouth. She whined, spreading herself wider as he drank her in, his tongue massaging her most intimate place.

“Fuck, sweetheart, you are so fucking wet already.” He groaned himself, unconsciously grinding his hips, sliding his cock against the sheets. He loved this, loved having her in his mouth. She tasted perfect, sweet and addicting.

Above him, J had begun to pant, her toes curling when things felt particularly good. He knew just how to touch, just how to send her crashing toward the edge. It only got better when he inserted his fingers into her heat, stroking in search of that glorious place that would make her see stars.

“I’m gonna make fucking forget your name, sweetheart.” He dove deeper, piercing her with his tongue.

J’s pants grew into moans that she tried to keep from overwhelming her but it soon became too much. The more intense it got, the fewer words she could manage besides his name. When his fingertips found her sweet spot, she couldn’t back, her climax reaching its peak.

Negan didn’t slow down, pleasuring her through the orgasm. He only stopped when it became too much and she squirmed beneath him.

While she recovered, he pressed kisses to her thighs and then on her belly once again, nuzzling and stroking it like she was already showing a bump. She could only imagine what he’d do when she started to look pregnant.

“Please,” She gently fixed his messy hair, nails massaging his scalp, “don’t make me have to beg.”

Negan chuckled deeply, looking up at her with a glint in his eyes. “Oh but darling, I fucking adore it when you beg.”

“Of course you do.” J shook her head, unable to fight her smile. If he wanted, then she would indulge. She licked her lips, meeting his gaze.

“Please Ne, please fuck me. Want your cock so bad and I know how bad you want me. I’ve seen how you’ve been rutting against the bed just from having me in your mouth. Come on Daddy, please?”

Negan surged forward, capturing her mouth again, hands stroking her breasts. “Yeah? You want Daddy’s cock?” He nipped at her lips, slotting his dick against her heat.

She groaned, nodding eagerly. “Yes, yes Daddy, please?”

“How could I ever say no to my sweet girl? Especially when she asks so fucking nicely?” Negan kissed her again and with a shift of hips, entered her in one smooth motion.

Something like an exhale left her lips, like this was how they were always meant to be and it was good to be back in that space. He knew exactly how to move, his thrusts practiced but perfect nonetheless, drawing moan after breathless moan from J’s lips.

He loved seeing her like this. She had carried so much weight for so long, it was a long time even after they met before he could get her to really relax. When they were together like this though, it was like all that weight was gone. She was able to get lost in the feeling and it was a wonderful thing to watch.

They moved together like they were one person, give and take in such a lovely way. He reached to hold her close, placing kisses wherever he could reach. With each movement, he could tell she was reaching her end, her grip on him growing tighter, her eyes falling shut.

“Go on, sweetheart, fucking cum for me again.” Negan’s voice urged in her ear, reaching between them to tease her clit.

J shuddered, her lips wrapping around him as she came for a second time, her cries echoing throughout the house. Negan followed soon after, sinking his teeth into her shoulder as his hips stuttered to a stop and he emptied himself of everything he had. The mark he left wasn’t deep enough to bleed or scar, but he gently soothed it with his tongue when he pulled back.

Negan carefully settled down beside her, uncoupling then but keeping her in his arms. Her eyes remained closed, but she turned toward him, laying her head on his shoulder.

He kissed her head, nuzzling her cheek. “How the hell are you, sweetheart?”

J giggled softly. “Hm...I think I’m pretty damn good.”

“I’m so goddamn glad I could be of service.” His mouth moved to press a kiss to hers.

“And I’m glad to see you so happy.” She opened her eyes and smiled at him, feeling perfectly content.

They stayed like that a good while, perfectly at ease being wrapped up in each other. But Negan could never stay quiet for long.

“You know what?”

“Hm?”

“We should get married.”

J raised an eyebrow. “But you were the one who always said I was yours and you were mine even if we didn’t have the piece of paper.”

“I know, but maybe it would be nice. Don’t you think it would be fucking nice to be able to say I’m your husband? I’d sure as fuck love to have you as my wife.”

She thought about this for a moment. Negan had a point, it would be nice to call him husband and have it be so in every sense of the word. And she very much liked the idea of being Negan’s wife.

“Okay. We can get married, but on one condition. You better find yourself a ring and propose the right way.”

Negan gave her lopsided grin. “Oh honey, you can fucking count on it.”

#negan fanfiction #negan x oc #my work

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livingcorner · 3 years

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10 Terrific Ways to Use All Your Summer Tomatoes

When I was a kid, I would not eat tomatoes. I swore I hated them. Sure I would eat ketchup and tomato sauce, but not actual tomatoes. When I became vegan, everything changed. Suddenly, I learned to love lots of foods I wouldn’t eat before, and tomatoes were one of them. Currently, I eat tomatoes every single day in one form or another. They are one of the foods I cannot run out of or I feel lost and deprived. Summer is a great time for tomatoes. This is when they are at their best – deep red, juicy and intense in flavor. There are Beefsteaks, Roma Plums, Vine-Ripened, Grape, Cherry, Heirloom, and so many other types of tomatoes. Each has their own flavor and personality and each can be used in multiple ways.

You're reading: 10 Terrific Ways to Use All Your Summer Tomatoes

If you grow tomatoes, you will probably be swamped with them by the end of summer. Maybe you are the lucky recipient of someone who has too many to use or maybe you are indulging in the bounty of the farmers market. However you come by your tomatoes, now is the perfect time to try new and exciting things with them. Of course, you know you can use fresh tomatoes to make tomato sauce or salsa, and you know they taste great in salads and sandwiches. Well, here are 10 different ways to use all those beautiful summer tomatoes.

1. Make Homemade Bruschetta

Heirloom Tomato and White Bean Bruschetta

Tomatoes can have no better friends than fruity olive oil, savory garlic, and crispy bread. Bruschetta is a favorite appetizer or hors d’ouvres. I make a Garlic Tomato Bruschetta that is so good, that and a glass of white wine is all I need for dinner. Here’s how I make it: Preheat the broiler. Place thin slices of Italian, Ciabatta or French bread onto a baking sheet.

Drizzle extra-virgin olive oil over them and broil for just 3-4 minutes until they are crispy and golden brown. Remove the bread from the oven and set them aside. In a skillet, heat a spoon of extra-virgin olive oil over medium heat. Add 4 minced garlic cloves and a pinch of red pepper flakes and cook for a minute until the garlic starts to soften. Add 1 pint of halved grape tomatoes and toss in the seasoned oil. Cook for 4-5 minutes until the tomatoes soften. Season with salt and pepper and spoon the tomatoes onto the toasted bread. Garnish with fresh parsley or basil and vegan grated parmesan. Make a lot. This is addictive. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Read more: 10 Vegetables to Plant in the Fall and Winter That Will Withstand the Cold

2. Make Soup – Raw or Cooked

Gazpacho is a Spanish soup that is served cold. It’s also easy to make – just blend ripe tomatoes with any other produce you desire onions, cucumber, bell peppers and even watermelon. Chill it and enjoy it. It couldn’t be easier. This Raw Tomato Red Pepper Soup combines meaty tomatoes, sweet bell pepper and spicy chipotle for a refreshing and beautiful soup. If you prefer your tomato soup hot, try this traditional Quick and Rich Tomato Soup or this creamy Tomato Coconut Soup.

3. Make Stuffed Tomatoes

Usually, when we make stuffed dishes, we put tomatoes into the vegetable we are stuffing but how about stuffing the tomatoes themselves? All you have to do is hollow out the tomatoes and replace the pulp with your favorite fillings. Toss cherry tomatoes with olive oil, salt, and red pepper flakes, and then stuff them with your favorite spread or vegan cheese. Broil them until the cheese melts and the tomatoes soften about 2 minutes. Garnish with fresh herbs and impress your guests with this beautiful appetizer.

Larger tomatoes can be stuffed to make a healthy and delicious entrée or side dish. I hollow out large beefsteak tomatoes and stuff them with a mixture of sauteed mushrooms, spinach, quinoa and the pulp from the tomatoes. Place them in a baking dish, sprinkle a few bread crumbs atop each one and bake for 30 minutes. For a lighter dish, stuff the tomatoes with your favorite summer salads like this Chickpea Waldorf Salad or this Tempeh “Tuna” Salad. It’s refreshing and you get to eat the plate!

4. Make Your Own Dried Tomatoes

I love sun-dried tomatoes. They add a tangy flavor to dishes and make a great snack too. You can buy sun-dried tomatoes in the store but why not make your own? Whether you use a dehydrator, your oven or the sun, it’s easy to dry foods yourself. To make your own oven-dried tomatoes, halve ripe tomatoes lengthwise and scoop out the seeds. Line a baking sheet with foil or parchment paper and toss the tomatoes in olive oil, salt, and pepper. Set your oven on its lowest temperature (150 degrees) and let the tomatoes cook for eight hours or until they have shrunken. Then use your self-dried tomatoes to make Raw Lasagna with Cilantro Pesto, Sundried Tomatoes and Marinated Veggies, Quinoa with Secret Pesto and Sun-Dried Tomatoes and this beautiful Sun-dried Tomato Tart with Zucchini Hummus.

5. Make Fried Green Tomatoes

Red tomatoes shouldn’t have all the fun; green ones deserve love too. Unripe green tomatoes are the star of the southern dish, Fried Green Tomatoes. Because they are unripe, green tomatoes are firmer with less moisture which means they hold up to frying better. You could fry red tomatoes but if they are juicy, it could get messy. Simply slice the tomatoes, bread them and fry them. Try these Fried Green Beer Tomatoes which are coated with cornmeal and dark beer or my Cajun-flavored Fried Green Tomatoes with Red Pepper Aioli.

6. Make Roasted Tomatoes

Tomatoes are sweet but when you roast them, they get this intense, rich flavor that is savory and succulent. Roasted tomatoes are delicious on their own as a side dish or used in other recipes. Just place halved tomatoes on a baking sheet lined with foil or parchment paper and drizzle them with olive oil, salt and your favorite herbs and spices. You can roast them fast in a 425-degree oven for 20 minutes or slowly in a 250-degree oven for a couple of hours until they are collapsed and softened. Then enjoy them in dishes like this bowl of Miso Roasted Tomatoes with Spiralized Carrot Noodles and these Grilled Avocados with Roasted Tomatoes.

7. Make Pickled Tomatoes

Pickled and fermented foods are delicious with their unique tang and saltiness. We eat pickled cabbage as sauerkraut, pickled onions, carrots and other veggies as kimchi and pickled cucumbers as…well, pickles. So why not pickle tomatoes? It’s easy, they can last a long time, and you can eat them on sandwiches or in salads or on their own. To make pickled tomatoes: cook your favorite spices such as garlic, red pepper flakes, ginger, cumin or mustard seeds in some olive oil for just a minute or two to deepen their flavors. Add one cup of your favorite vinegar and ¼ cup sugar to the saucepan and cook over medium heat until the sugar dissolves, about 5 minutes. This is the brine. Add some salt and let the mixture cool. Take a sterilized jar and fill it with peeled, ripe tomatoes cut into wedges or whatever shape you desire. Pour the brine over the tomatoes. Be sure to leave about ½ inch of room at the top. Cover and refrigerate for several hours. The longer you let the tomatoes pickle in the brine, the better they will be.

8. Make Homemade Chile Sauce

Chile sauce is amazing. It’s rich, sweet, spicy and tangy all at the same time. It’s used in lots of recipes, especially Asian ones. You can buy bottles of chile sauce but some have ingredients such as high-fructose corn syrup and others can be expensive. When I ran out of chile sauce in the middle of making a recipe, I couldn’t substitute anything else so I learned to make my own. It was much simpler than I thought it would be and now I always make it myself.

Let me share my recipe with you: Combine 2 cups of fresh, pureed tomatoes (plums have the best flavor), ¼ cup tomato paste, ¼ cup apple cider vinegar, ¼ cup brown sugar, 2 chopped jalapeno peppers, 1 tsp. each garlic powder and chile powder, ½ tsp. each dry mustard powder and onion powder, a pinch of allspice, and 2 Tbs. vegan Worcestershire sauce in a food processor. If you don’t have vegan Worcestershire sauce, you can use 1 Tbs. each tamari and balsamic vinegar. Add a pinch of red pepper flakes if you want extra heat. Process until smooth and taste for any seasoning adjustments. Keep in a jar in the fridge and use it in recipes such as Braised Seitan Short Ribs in Spicy Chile Sauce, Mississippi Comeback Sauce and Sesame Tofu.

Read more: Create a Beautiful Garden Bed with These Edging Ideas

9. Make Tomato Desserts

Yes, desserts. We use spinach, avocado, and zucchini in desserts so why not tomatoes? After all, tomatoes are a fruit and with more recipes mixing sweet and savory tastes, tomatoes are a perfect ingredient for desserts. The next time you go to make your own ice cream or sorbet, consider giving tomatoes a try by either adding one or two to the recipe or going totally tomato-flavored. Add some little tomato wedges to fruit cocktail or these Raw Fruit Tartlets. Their gentle flavor mingles well with strawberries, watermelon, pineapple, mango, pears, melon and berries. Garnish your tomato dessert with fresh mint or basil leaves.

10. Freeze Your Tomatoes

Even though you can buy tomatoes year round, they are only in season for a short time. Or perhaps, you grew so many tomatoes, you can’t possibly use them all, no matter how many tomato ideas and recipes I give you. Well, the good news is that you can freeze tomatoes so you can enjoy them all year long. Tomatoes can be frozen with their skins or peeled, raw or cooked, whole, chopped, sliced or pureed. If you make tomato soup or sauce, you can also freeze the prepared foods.

To freeze tomatoes, select ones that are ripe and firm. Wash them gently and blot them dry. Prepare the tomatoes by cutting them into the desired shape and place them in a single layer on a cookie sheet that will fit in your freezer. After they are frozen, transfer the tomatoes to freezer bags or sealed storage containers. When you need them, just thaw them out and use them in any cooked recipe (thawed tomatoes will be too mushy to eat like you would a fresh tomato). Frozen tomatoes can last up to 8 months so you can be enjoying summer tomatoes in the middle of a winter snowstorm.

There is no food more versatile than the tomato. Sweet or savory, raw or cooked, alone or as part of a recipe, tomatoes are nature’s candy. I hope you have fun trying these ways of using your summer tomato bounty and if you have any bushels leftover, send them my way.

We also highly recommend downloading our Food Monster App , which is available for iPhone , and can also be found on Instagram and Facebook . The app has more than 15,000 plant-based, allergy-friendly recipes, and subscribers gain access to new recipes every day. Check it out!

For more Vegan Food, Health, Recipe, Animal, and Life content published daily, don’t forget to subscribe to the One Green Planet Newsletter !

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Source: https://livingcorner.com.au Category: Garden

source https://livingcorner.com.au/10-terrific-ways-to-use-all-your-summer-tomatoes/

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49scribes-a · 6 years

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ScribeRim: 1

Bookman was an old mer and the harshest cold of the Pale and Winterhold’s wild mountains always did a good job of reminding him of it. He was lament to say he couldn’t help wincing a little bit at the creak in his joints as he pushed through the snow, and the fact that he was neither the tallest of anyone in either human or elf kind made it no easier.

Weary eyes turned skyward as snowflakes continued to fall, gentle in their descent, but only adding to his troubles nonetheless. He was getting too old for this, especially for continuing his work at such an old age without any sort of students to pass on his work. He was, however, without any suitable students.

Those of the College were comparably young to him, but still old enough that retraining some of their skills and habits, to say nothing of their other interests, was a task he wasn’t keen on undertaking. Perhaps he might find someone far younger in other settlements, but parents were often protective of their young and wary of strangers, and to even those who knew him, wary of the dangers outside their villages.

He supposed his easiest option would be to travel to Riften and see what untapped potentials Honorhall might have there. Surely even Grelad the Kind must feel overwhelmed at times of all her young and orphaned charges, and glad to find one among them a suitable caregiver to take them off her hands. One less mouth to feed. Certainly it would likely be better in her eyes than them falling into doing work for the local Thieves.

He supposes he’s lingered already in the cold too long, continuing his path up the snowy hill between the rise of two jagged peaks. Just beyond the slope of Wayward Pass would be Nightgate Inn, a far more forgiving distance than heading all the way to either Windhelm or Whiterun to finally warm himself and sleep somewhere he might actually awaken the next morning.

The arch of the pass’s zenith provides some relief from the wind, and Bookman takes his while to observe the frozen skeletal remains of an ancient traveler that he has passed many a time heading to and fro the ancient Dwemer ruin of Alftand, keeping eternal vigil in honor.

It’s a moment that he pauses, over the remains and in observance of the small stone shrine to Arkay. While never one who would be caught devoutly attending any of Skyrim’s many temples to the Divines, be it whether he accepts Eight or the Nine that Men believe so strongly in, neither is he one to take for chance the ill-fated hazards of the climate. He wouldn’t necessarily call it faith so much as insurance. He loses nothing for giving a moment of attention to the supposed God of Life and Death, but perhaps he might gain an extra year for paying proper reverence every now and again. The irony of such a shrine placed beside a frozen skeleton is not lost to an old elf’s eyes.

“Blessed Arkay, please grant me safe passage from the north, that I might continue my work until I have a worthy heir who will see it continued through many ages following mine.”

Respects given, in word or in silence to both Arkay and the traveler in rest eternal, his sights turn to the other side of the pass, a far easier path to traverse, but still hazardous all the same with the slickness of frozen earth.

The journey, slow-going as it is, is ultimately worth it once the glittering, half-frozen pond and solitary inn finally comes into view, it’s thatched roof buried as it is. What he notices most is the smell of smoke wafting in the air, only faintly traceable through the bitter, frosted air. Far behind the lonely inn stands more jagged mountains climbing far into the sky, none moreso than the towering behemoth that is High Hrothgar and the Throat of the World standing between Whiterun and The Rift.

Nightgate is a considerably small inn of typical cobblestone-walled design, tucked away amongst snow-covered firs, glistening snowberry bushes, and half-buried mammoth bones poking out of the snowdrifts, and the first impression of the inside is equally as humbling.

The apparent size of the place is nothing worth worrying over when the heat from the fire and smell of fresh baked goods, cooked meats, and spiced stews reaches the senses however. Somewhere underlying that comes the familiar scent of garlic, dried frost miriam and elves ear so common in Nord homes. Less welcomed is the slow, thawing realization of cold still nipping at his fingers and face, and once again Bookman is reminded of his age with a reluctant sigh.

The innkeeper, an older man by Hadrig sporting a long scar and a blind eye to compliment his rugged beard, welcomes him in with curt friendliness and vague familiarity.

“Welcome. Feel free to take a seat by the fire. I’m sure I can still find a clean mug around here somewhere for something to warm to soothe you after your journey.”

“Thank you,” Bookman offers roughly, immediately scouring the room for a chair to pull up beside the fire. When he finds it, he makes himself at home. Nightgate doesn’t have a large hearth like many of the other inns, but anything is better than being exposed to the elements at this point. A quick glance tells him that among the other occupants is only a dark elf, probably a mercenary by the looks of it, and an aged, grumpy breton. “I would very much appreciate it. Some stew if you would as well, any kind.”

Hadrig nods understanding and stands from where he had been leaning over the counter, calling over the rickety wood railings of the stairs leading to the second level underground.

“Boys! We have a customer! Dish up some of that hunter’s stew.”

There’s a soft thunk somewhere, which Bookman’s trained ears immediately identify as a book smacking shut, unmistakable with how often he himself has delved into literature of all manner. Its followed by the light thump of two pairs of feet hopping up the stairs, in a flash of bright orange hair the dark can’t quite hide even in the deep shadows of the dancing firelight.

Bookman appraises the two who appear, both young males, probably breton if his eyes have yet to fail him. Oddly enough, they’re identical in appearance, all the way down to their closed right eyes, but their left eyes are contrasted in sharp, intelligent green. His first wonder is who and where their mother is. They’re not familiar from any previous visits, albeit it has been quite a few years, and there is no local woman he’s ever seen here that he could make a guess at having had them by looks alone.

They watch him back with an almost unnerving dualty, almost like a mirror of the other, but there’s something about the way they look him over in bold inquisition that he decides he likes. Just as quickly as they come to give him his bowl of stew, they’re gone again towards the stairs, and yet not once do their eyes leave him, especially one more than the other. He wonders where they’re off to in such a hurry, and then he remembers the sound of a book. Perhaps they have an interesting story to get back to, which must mean they can read, or at least try to.

“Are those boys yours?” Its very blunt and direct, but Bookman has never been one to mince words on meaningless chatter.

“I suppose you could say that,” Hadrig hums. “I’ve let them stay here the last couple of years, help with things at the inn here and there, but they’re not my children.”

“Is that so?” Bookman humors, pausing to sip down a spoonful of his food before deciding conversation would be a good way to pass the time while it cools anyway. “I’m guessing from how you speak of it that they aren’t children of your relatives either.”

Hadrig seems to catch on that his interest isn’t merely idle curiosity for curiosity's sake.

“A traveler brought them here a few years ago, found them out in the wilds while they were hunting, near-frozen as wee babes and brought them here to get them warm. They’ve been here ever since then, and I’ve let them stay until they’re old enough to go out on their own, maybe pick up work as apprentices to someone in Windhelm in a few years’ time.”

Bookman nodded his understanding. They were still very young, easily told by their size, but there’s still something admittedly skittish, he’d go so far as to say reminiscent of feral to their mannerisms. He wouldn’t say Hadrig was any sort of cruel to them, but perhaps not overly familial and attached either. More that he was offering temporary shelter to a few stray cats until they’re fit to leave again, especially with the harsh north being so treacherous a place to merely send them out on their own.

“If you’re not terribly set on having them stay past a couple more years, then perhaps I would be doing you a favor in taking them further south with me. Somewhere with better opportunities than out here.” He’s not entirely sure yet if they would be fit to take on being his apprentices, either now or in the future, but perhaps his small prayer to Arkay is being answered more readily than he would have anticipated.

“Well I certainly won’t complain, but I’m not their father. I can’t force them to go with anyone they don’t want to, and they’ve already got a few promising options to think about in Windhelm. You’re free to go down and discuss it with them if you wish.”

Bookman nodded his understanding. It was as he suspected then. While perhaps not exactly eager to be rid of them, he wasn’t reluctant either. It was a matter he didn’t care to either solve or hinder at his own expense.

Taking his while to warm up and eat first, Bookman took up Hadrig’s offer to see the two, heading down the stairs. The space below was lit by the glow of an oven, wafting the scents of fresh bread and pastries. Off to the side of it was a table, holding a few plates of fresh goods and a couple of books.

It took only a moment of looking and glancing around the other side of the oven to find the boys curled up together in the corner behind it, backs pressed to the warm stone with a book open between them.

Bookman didn’t interrupt at first, instead walking to the larger wood table to take a look at what choice of literature they had to peruse. Among them, he found The Madmen of the Reach, Report: Disaster at Ionith, Troll Slaying, Fall from Glory, The Great War, and Rising Thread Vol.II; all titles he was familiar with. While there were far more difficult reads among Tamriel’s literature, many of which Bookman had had the pleasure of delving into in his time at the College’s Arcaneum, they were certainly nothing easy to read and understand for children who could be no older than eight at most.

“Tell me,” he interrupts, though it’s not much of an interruption from what he can tell, each of their single eyes already on him. “What book are you reading now?”

They give each other a silent glance, as if wondering whether to even humor the old High Elf with their time, before looking back at him and shrugging.

“Th’ Bear of Markarth,” one of them answers. He seems the bolder of the two, if anything were to be told between them, and he thinks it's probably the one who was watching him more intensely than the other before.

“And do you know what it says?” Bookman inquired.

The same boy who answered nodded his head, while the other merely watched Bookman curiously.

“I’ talks about Ulfric Stormcloak an’ when he attacked Markarth t’ take it back from the Forsworn natives that lived in the Reach, an’ that’s how Skyrim got to be stuck in a Civil War ‘cuz Ulfric demanded free Talos worship ‘fore he’d give Markarth back to the Empire an’ made the Aldmeri D’minion mad ‘bout the White-Gold Cucordit.”

“Concordit,” Bookman corrected. Still, for what youthful lack of more difficult words the boy had, Bookman had to admit that he was just a touch impressed with how quickly and easily the boy recited the contents of the book. “And you read this all by yourselves?” After all, he could simply be repeating what he was told the book talked about, but somehow Bookman didn’t think it was only that.

“Mhm.”

“I see…” Bookman hummed, turning his gaze to the stacks of books. “And all of these as well?”

Both nodded at his inquiry, the other one who remained silent sitting up a little more attentively.

“Do the two of you enjoy reading and learning new things?”

It was the second boy who answered him, this time with a quick nod and a slightly friendlier glance than the other.

“My brother and I read all sorts of books. We’ve read those ones at least a dozen times an’ a bunch more in Windhelm when we go down there t’help make deliveries an’ things.”

Bookman hums at the boy’s enthusiasm, and notices how sharply the other keeps his eye on him.

“If you’ve read lots of books, then you probably know what a scholar is, correct?” It might not be an accurate guess, but he hopes so. It would make explaining himself much easier.

“A scholar is some’on’ who reads a lot an’ sometimes writes books on things they know about ‘at other people don’t, isn’ it?” The two glance at each other as if to reaffirm this, the more enthusiastic one nodding with a smile before they return to looking at Bookman.

“That’s correct. A scholar is someone who studies and learns all about the world, often about mysteries ill understood by others, who crave new knowledge and discoveries. I’m only one of many who has devoted their life to this, and I’m wondering if perhaps the two of you might be interested in doing the same with your lives.”

They blink at him in perfect unison, glance at each other again, and seem to give it a moment of serious thought, as though the possibility never occurred to them, but neither did it cross their minds they wouldn’t want to.

One of them, the more enthusiastic, nudges the other in the ribs as if to say we have to do it, voice coming in a whisper that isn’t quite quiet enough to conceal.

“Can we really?”

The other hums under his breath, eye downcast at the floor for a moment, then back to Bookman in question.

“Aren’t scholars all old, stuffy guys?”

Bookman could almost laugh. Such blunt statements that could only come from a child.

“A scholar is anyone who wishes to learn the world the way no one else does and see things never seen before, and then show their findings to anyone who will pick up the book they’ve written about it. The sooner you start, the wiser you’ll be when you’re old.”

“It is fun being smart…” one of them mutters under their breath, and receives a soft elbow jab immediately after.

“So how d’we be scholars?”

“First,” Bookman begins, “You find yourselves a teacher.”

There’s a small pause, and then, “And that’s you?”

“If that’s what you want me to be.”

“And then what?”

“Then, I teach you things no one else can, so that you can go on to see and learn things no one else before has. Do you wish to become my apprentices and see all the secrets Skyrim has to offer?”

There’s only a moment of hesitation, exchanged glances, gnawed lips, before they come to an unspoken, mutual decision and nod.

“We do.”

“Very well,” Bookman nods his approval, and silently thanks whatever Divines or Daedra decided their meeting should happen. “Then I accept you both as heirs to Bookman.”

#ScribeRim #Kit plays Skyrim #Okay to Reblog #me? writing fanfiction?#more likely than you'd think #actually not cuz I'm lazy and I abandon everything bUT #*jazz hands*#I'M WRITING SOMETHING!!#also I'm gonna fight FFN cuz it won't let me upload anything weeps

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toranj · 7 years

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Low Budget Recipes

As requested, my favorite recipes/how to cook (vegan) on a low budget!

In good times I have about 50€ a month for food for both me and my cats (and alcohol), which boils down to about 1€/day. I’ve been vegan for over five years now, and have never had any kind of vitamin deficiency or what have you.

The instructions may be a bit vague because I don’t use measurements when cooking, I just add stuff on instinct. If you’re not very experienced with cooking and are not sure how much to add, feel free to hmu! Also most of these recipes are more or less ground recipes, you can add (or leave out) whatever you like!

All of the recipes are vegan. Very long text under cut, but here is the gist of it:

Basics:

Emergency Bread

Cream Sauce

Hot Pepper Sauce

Recipe for mayonnaise and all kind of dips

And:

Goulash

(Sweet-) Potato Stew

Chili Stew

Tarte flambée / Flammkuchen

Tabbouleh Salad

Noodle Salad

Flädlesuppe (A very German Soup)

Pudding

-----------------

Goulash

(It doesn’t really taste like goulash. Still amazing!)

What you need:

Potatoes

1 red paprika

1 onion

1 can of sieved tomatoes (or anything resembling it)

Vegetable broth

Tofu (Optional, since expensive)

Spices: Pepper, salt, cumin powder, paprika powder, curry powder (very little)

Take 1 potato, 1 onion, 1 red paprika and cut them into small pieces. Put them into a pot with some oil and steam them at a low temperature for about 10 minutes. Add the vegetable broth (water mixed with vegetable broth powder) so the vegetables are just about covered. Add the sieved tomatoes. Cook for another 10 minutes until it’s boiling, then take it off the stove and blend it with a blender until it is smooth. If it is too thick, add some more water. If it’s too liquid, no worries: Now you cut the potatoes into very small dices – this way they cook faster – and add them into the pot. Cook until the potatoes are done. Now add the spices – and done!

(Sweet-)Potato Stew

This one originates from South Africa, if I remember correctly. It’s usually done with sweetpotatoes, but since they are rather expensive I use normal potatoes.

What you need:

Potatoes

Onions

Garlic

Ginger

Chili peppers (ideally fresh ones, but canned ones are cheaper)

1 can of sieved tomatoes

1 table spoon of peanut butter

Spices: Pepper, salt, cumin powder, cucurma powder, fenugreek powder, curry powder (very little)

(Fresh mint)

Cut the onions, garlic and chili peppers and a bit of ginger in very tiny pieces and roast them in your pot with some oil. Add the can of sieved tomatoes with a bit of water and heat it up until its boiling. Add 1 table spoon of peanut butter and cook for about 10 minutes. Cut the potatoes into small dices, add them into the pot and cook until they are done. Add the spices. It’s even better with a bunch of fresh mint leaves as topping.

Tastes even better with couscous as side dish.

Chili Stew

What you need:

1 can of kidney beans

Red paprika (Optional, since expensive)

Corn

Onions

Tofu (Optional, since expensive)

1 can of sieved tomatoes

Spices: Pepper, salt, vegetable broth, chili flakes, paprika powder, cumin powder (very little), curry powder (very little)

Cut the onions into small pieces and roast them in your pot with some oil. Add the can of sieved tomatoes with some water and vegetable broth. Add the spices and heat everything up until it’s boiling. Add kidney beans, corn, more cut onions, and whatever else you want to add. Cook for a few more minutes until all ingredients are done.

Emergency Bread

(A bad version of arabic bread, it’s probably insulting to even call it that. It’s really great if you have no food at home or no money left though and it tastes way better than it sounds!)

What you need:

Water

Flour

Salt

Mix water and flour in a bowl until you have a liquid substance. It should not be thick-ish since you want to spread it very thin! Add salt. Heat up a pan, add a bit of oil – just a few drops. Add the water-flour-mix until the base of the pan is barely covered with it. Remember, it has to be as thin as possible! Fry it for a few minutes until one side is done. Turn it around and do the same with the other side. You know it’s perfectly done when it’s no longer doughy inside!

Flädlesuppe

Can’t translate this one into English since it’s a very (Southern) German dish. It’s basically pancakes cut into stripes and put into vegetable broth. Probably sounds weird, but it tastes better than you think!

What you need:

Emergency bread (see recipe above)

Vegetable broth

Spices: Pepper, salt

(Onions)

You want to make some emergency bread first, except this time spread the dough a little bit thicker so it’s still soft inside after it’s done. Like a pancake! Cut the pancakes into small stripes and put them into a pot of hot vegetable broth. If you like onions, add some of those too. And done! You should eat it fast before the pancakes soak up all the broth though.

Recipe for mayonnaise and all kind of dips

When I have enough money left for milk, I usually make mayonnaise, but you can also use recipe this for e.g. a curry dip or salad dressing.

What you need:

1/3 of soy milk (Doesn’t work very well with other milk)

2/3 of sunflower or rapeseed oil

Spices: Salt, pepper, mustard, vegetable broth powder, lemon juice

Mix the soy milk and the oil (e.g. 50ml of milk and 100ml of oil) and use a blender to mix it for a few seconds. Ideally it has now the consistency of mayonnaise, but no worries if it doesn’t, we can fix that. Just add the spices and stir it, that will make it more solid.

For a curry dip, just add some curry powder, salt and pepper instead. Or other spices, whatever you fancy! Basically you can use this for any kind of dip that you can think of.

For the salad dressing use the same spices as for the mayonnaise, but add a little bit more milk in the end.

Tarte flambée / Flammkuchen

What you need:

Emergency Bread (see recipe above)

Mayonnaise (see recipe above)

Onions

Tofu (Optional, since expensive)

You can either use the emergency bread and put warm ‘mayonnaise’ and roasted onions on it.

Or you can use 250g flour, 20g yeast, 150ml water, salt, sugar and olive oil to make a dough and let it rest for at least 45 minutes. Roll the pastry so it’s very thin, add mayonnaise and cut onions and put the whole thing into the preheated oven for around 5 minutes.

Cream Sauce

This one is a classic and great for any kind of noodle recipes, or vegetables like potatoes. Or, if you have the money, broccoli, cauliflower and tofu.

What you need:

Margarine

Flour

Hot water

Tofu (Optional, since expensive)

Spinach (Optional)

Spices: There are many versions for this recipe, I listed them further down

Heat up a pot and put margarine in it – at least two table spoons. When it’s fully melted add about the same amount of flour, little by little. Stir it with an eggbeater. Now add hot water, again little by little and constantly stirring until you have a thick sauce. If it’s too thick, add more water. If it’s too liquid, add more flour.

For the classic version, add only salt, pepper and a bit of nutmeg.

It’s important to eat green vegetables too. :P Add some (frozen) spinach and done!

I also like to mix it additionally with oregano and parsley for “Italian” noodle dishes. And if you have the money, take half a block of classic tofu, mash it with a fork and add it into the pot to cook for a bit. (No spinach in this version.)

Hot Red Pepper Sauce

What you need:

Hot Red Pepper Paste (I always buy it at Turkish grocery stores, but I heard Korean grocery stores have it too)

Water

Spices: Pepper, salt, vegetable broth, paprika powder, chili flakes

Heat up water in a pot and add hot red pepper paste until you have a smooth sauce. Add the spices and you’re done! Tastes especially great with rice and, if you can afford them, fresh vegetables.

Tabbouleh Salad

The perfect thing for hot days! Plus the vegetables you need for this are usually cheaper during summer too.

What you need:

Bulgur

1-3 Onions

½ Cucumber

2 big tomatoes

A big bundle of fresh mint leaves

Salad (Optional)

Spices: Salt, pepper, lemon juice, olive oil

Take about 150-200g of bulgur and soak it in cold water for an hour, then put it in a sieve to drain off the water. Put the bulgur in a big bowl or pot. Cut the onions, cucumber, tomatoes and mint leaves into small pieces and add them. (The original recipe has 3 big onions, which is a lot. Most people I know are more than happy with only one.) Add salt, pepper, a bit of lemon juice and 4-5 table spoons of olive oil. Optionally you can add a bit of fresh salad too.

Noodle Salad

What you need:

Noodles

Kidney beans

Onions

Corn

Paprika

Oil

Balsamic Vinegar

Salt & Pepper

Cook the noodles and let them cool. Add everything else. Done!

Pudding

Sweets are expensive too. So whenever I have money left for milk, I make pudding. I have two versions for you:

1.) Chocolate or Vanilla pudding

You know pudding powder? Every grocery store has those for a few cents, so go get some. The instructions are on the back. Takes about 5 minutes to make!

2.) Semolina pudding

You need:

200g semolina

200ml vegan milk

2 table spoons sugar

Heat up the milk in a pot. Add sugar. Add the semolina and stir for about 5 minutes until you have gooey substance. Fill it into a bowl of your liking, let it cool, then put it into the fridge for a few hours. Add some nuts, if you can afford them!

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And a bit of advice:

If it’s too liquid, add more spices or a bit of flour

If it’s too spicy, add sugar, syrup and/or lemon juice

Don’t search for vegan recipes since they usually include super fancy and expensive ingredients. Instead take normal, simple recipes you already know. You can turn literally anything vegan. Usually it’s enough to replace a few things, most commonly:

Soy/Almond/Rice milk instead of cow milk

In many cases you can even replace yoghurt with milk

Half a banana instead of an egg Or vinegar mixed with natron instead of an egg (Baking only)

Every household needs at least one mint plant. :P You can add them to every kind of spicy dish as topping

Get more spice plants!! They are cheap and you have a seemingly endless source of fresh spices

I don’t know about other countries, but here in Germany spices can be really expensive, at least in most German grocery stores. And they aren’t even good or spicy. I always buy them at Turkish grocery stores – the spices are affordable and actually spicy. Arabic, Korean, Chinese (etc.) stores have great spices too!

#cooking #recipes #vegan #jammerlappen #there are probably a lot of mistakes in this bc i didnt proof read and writing recipes in english is a lot of work

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fantasyofmemory-blog · 7 years

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Tomato Pie

A classic dish of the American South, or so I’ve read. Although, having been born and raised (and still residing) in the South, I only just discovered it a few years ago. It was my mother who first revealed to me the Most Sacred Tomato Pie, and it is sacred. It is one of the finest expressions of summertime tomato abundance, alongside the classic tomato + mayo + white bread, or the timeless BLT. This dish is so good, and it is my wish that others experience its mighty flavor. So what follows is the recipe as I learned it, and then a recipe of my own interpretation.

Full disclosure: I am not a chef, nor do I presume to be. But I love food, and I love to cook.

Ingredients

2 large tomatoes, any variety (although heirloom and beefsteak work nicely)

1/2 cup mayo (Duke’s, of course)

1/2 cup sour cream

Fresh basil

1 1/4 cup cheddar

Pie crust (either homemade or frozen, like Marie Calendar’s)

Directions

Pre-cook your pie crust according to the directions on the package (it will likely bake at 400°, but once it’s finished you’ll want to reduce the heat to 350°). Meanwhile, slice your tomatoes into half moons, about a 1/4 inch thick. If you wish to decrease some of the moisture, you can remove the tomato guts or blot with a paper towel. A friend of mine also used salt to extract some of the moisture. I do not mind the moisture, but if you want a firm pie then it is necessary to remove as much moisture as possible.

Once your crust is pre-cooked and cooled, place some tomato slices in a nice, even layer. Do not use all of your slices, because you’ll want at least two layers. Next, spread some of your mayocream over the tomatoes so that they’re covered. Then place fresh basil leaves throughout and sprinkle some of your cheddar. Repeat this process for the second, and probably final, layer and top with the remaining cheese. Be sure to cover any exposed basil because it will burn in the oven.

If you haven’t reduced your oven temperature to 350°, do so before you place the pie in the oven. Once the pie is in the oven, allow it to cook for 30-40 minutes until the crust and cheese are a nice golden brown. When it is done, remove it from the oven and let it stand for a few minutes, then serve.

And that is Tomato Pie as I learned it. I have not corroborated any of this with other recipes out there, so I’m not sure how traditional this is. The beauty of this recipe is that it is extremely malleable; you can do pretty much whatever with it once you learn the basics. Which brings us to my interpretation...

Ingredients

The ingredients are the same as above, plus the following:

1/2 cup chopped green onions

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 slices of bacon, crisped and roughly chopped

1 1/4 cup smoked cheddar, or extra sharp cheddar

S&B Nanami Togarashi

Directions

The steps for this are the exact same as above, except when you are preparing your layers, scatter in some of the green onions, garlic, and bacon. You probably won’t use all of the onions or garlic, so just put as much as you prefer. For the final layer, once you’ve topped with cheese, give a generous dusting of the togarashi. It really sets it off.

And that’s that. I hope whoever stumbles upon this recipe thoroughly enjoys it, and shares it. And should anyone come up with their own interpretation, I would be pleased to learn of it.

#food #recipes #tomato #pie

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micebrandy29-blog · 5 years

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Crispy Lemon Chicken

If you are like me you will be a fan of crispy chicken. Chicken that is pounded until tender, coated in panko crumbs and lightly fried . . . I just love the stuff. Crispy on the outside and tender and juicy on the inside. It is one of my weaknesses! (And yes, I know I have many!)

Once again it is the time of year where I struggle with the natural light when it comes to taking photos of my recipes. You wouldn't think the time of year would make much of a difference but it really does. I really should be taking my food outside to photograph it now, but lately I have been feeling very tired. I'm not sure what's up with that. I just take my pictures on my dining room table in front of the back window. That's the place that gets the most natural light for most of the day. I can't be bothered with light boxes and the like. What you see is what you get!

Don't let the photos put you off of making this chicken. Its so, so, SO delicious! A little bit of a faff with the breading, but believe me, that is the worst of it.

Once you have them breaded and the breading has set, the worst part is over. The rest is simple and easy to do . . . just heat some oil and fry them, 4 minutes on each side will do it. Then they will be crisp, golden and tender . . . juicy and perfectly cooked.

The sauce could not be any simpler . . . it uses only a few ingredients. Butter, garlic, cream, lemon juice and zest, and some grated Parmesan cheese . . . simple.

Rich and creamy, and yes . . . something you would only want to make once in a blue moon as it is rather high in fat and calories . . . but oh boy, is it every tasty!

Altogether with the frying of the chicken and all that butter and cream, this is one dish you will want to reserve for special occasions, or for when you have company.

If you are on a diet, you won't want to be indulging in this for sure . . . sad but true.

But if your only concern is taste, then . . . Dig IN! and ENJOY!

In retrospect I am thinking you could also use ready breaded chicken breasts if you wanted to. The frozen ones. That would save a lot of time really . . . but for myself, I prefer to do it myself. So I know exactly what I am eating.

Yield: 4Author: Marie RaynerPrint Recipe

With ImageWithout Image

Crispy Lemon Chicken

prep time: 15 minscook time: 20 minstotal time: 35 mins

Crisp golden, moist chicken served with a luscious creamy lemon sauce. This goes great with rice or pasta.

ingredients:

For the chicken:

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, pounded to an even thickness

salt and freshly ground black pepper

45g plain flour (1/4 cup)

2 medium free range eggs

125g of Japanese Panko, or other fine dried bread crumbs (1 1/3 cups)

60ml of vegetable oil for frying (1/4 cup)

For the sauce:

4 TBS of butter

1 tsp minced fresh garlic

1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1 medium unwaxed lemon, zest and juice

240ml double cream (1 cup, heavy cream)

90g freshly grated Parmesan cheese (1/2 cup)

instructions:

Season the pounded chicken breasts with some salt and pepper. Place the flour on a plate. Beat the eggs in a shallow bowl. Place the Panko into another shallow bowl. One at a time, dredge the chicken breasts into first the flour, then the eggs, and finally the Panko, coating them evenly and pressing the crumbs on to adhere. Set aside on a lined baking sheet while you heat the oil.

Heat the oil in a large frying pan until very hot, but not smoking. Add the chicken breasts and reduce the heat to medium. Cook, turning once, until the crumbs are golden brown and the chicken feels firm when pressed in the centers, about four minutes per side. Adjust the heat as needed so that the crumbs don't burn. Keep warm in a low oven until your sauce is made.

To make the sauce melt the butter in a saucepan. Once it begis to foam, add the garlic and cook until fragrant, stirring constantly. Do not let brown. Whisk in the cream and black pepper. Reduce heat to very low. Whisk in the lemon zest and juice. Turn off the heat and whisk in the cheese until melted.

Serve the chicken with some of the sauce spooned over each portion.

This goes great with either some pasta or steamed rice. I like brown rice myself. A green vegetable also goes well.

Crisp, tender and filled with rich tangy flavour. This is a real winner/winner chicken dinner! Bon Appetit!

Source: https://theenglishkitchen.blogspot.com/2018/09/crispy-lemon-chicken.html

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guitarpanda8 · 5 years

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8 Amazingly Easy Summer Recipe Ideas With 10 Minutes Prep!

These recipes are brought to you by Woolworths.

Want to make the most of summer? These 8 easy recipe ideas will have you enjoying your time outside the house but still eating well. Think a crowd pleasing 6 layer salad; refreshing Limeade; polenta & parmesan fries with pesto aioli; my favourite ever chicken salad (and I mean it, pinky swear); Nashville Hot Chicken with maple and waffles and to finish a quick freeze Chocolate Peppermint Ice Cream Cake! Best of all these take between 5-15 minutes prep thanks to some smart shopping!

For me, while I love to cook, you may have noticed that my summer recipes are simpler. That's because I don't want to spend too long in the kitchen. I'd rather be out with friends. Winter is another matter where I braise and roast for hours and stay indoors reading or watching movies while waiting for summer to reappear. But summer is really an outdoor season.

6 layer salad to feed a party!

That’s why I’ve come up with some quick and easy Summer recipe ideas using Woolworths’ ready made products. Because sometimes you want to cook something that takes 10 minutes prep but you know me, I like to fiddle with things. And you shouldn't have to sacrifice flavour or taste in order to save time. And here I show that you can use ready made items to come up with canny shortcuts to make a yummy dish!

My favourite ever chicken salad

If I could do one thing it would be to be able to control time. Because I feel like I'm in a constant battle to do things while fighting time. By the time the end of the day rolls around I really wonder where the time went.

Quick Freeze Chocolate Peppermint Ice Cream Cake

The other night I was up late-much later than I wanted to be. You know those times where you just wish you were home in bed? I was out at dinner and I was bone tired and they had cleared out dessert plates. And sometimes when I am tired I get sort of tired tipsy. I'm not actually tipsy but I feel like it. I get sort of delirious.

Refreshing Limeade

We were all eager to leave but one guy had gone to the bathroom and been gone for so long we had almost forgotten about him. And I think I almost dozed off and when I woke up I was thinking, "What are we waiting for???"

DIY Peanut Butter and Salted Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Sandwiches

Except I blurted it out loud. Like very loud. I only realised that I had actually spoken out loud when everyone turned to me. I honestly try and be polite most times but when I get tired, things fly out of my mouth.

Nashville Hot Chicken & Waffles with Maple Syrup

"Did I say that out loud?" I whispered to my seat mate. She nodded laughing. Thankfully our host didn't take offence as I think he too was wondering where he had gone and he too wanted to be home in bed too.

Smoked Beef Brisket with quick Japanese Potato Salad

So while I usually offer you from scratch recipes there are times when shortcuts and time savings helps. Sometimes you just don't have the motivation or means to smoke an entire beef brisket and sometimes you do. But save these recipes for when you are short of time. And don't get delirious tired like me ;)

So tell me Dear Reader, do you ever blurt out things? Do you get a bit delirious when you are tired? And do you ever wish you could control time?

Polenta and Parmesan Chips with Pesto Aioli

My Favourite Ever Chicken Salad

All Original Recipe ideas by Lorraine Elliott

This is one of my favourite salads and a real crowd pleaser if you're taking it to a picnic or a gathering. Even though I'm not a huge celery fan, it earns its place in this salad by adding a fantastic crunch along with the walnuts.

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 0 minutes

Serves: 6-8 (perfect for a crowd)

1 Woolworths Macro free range roast chicken

1 green shallot, sliced

3/4 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup walnuts, chopped

1-2 sticks celery, chopped

1/4 cup chopped sweet pickles

3 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon

2 tablespoons sesame seeds toasted

Step 1 - Remove the meat from the chicken-you should get around 3.5-4 cups of chicken meat. Mix this along with the rest of the ingredients together in a large bowl. Serve with greens or on its own.

Refreshing Limeade

If you've ever baulked at the cost of limes but love citrus drinks like limeade these frozen lime slices are perfect to keep in your freezer. They come already sliced up so all you do is muddle them in a light sugar syrup. This is utterly refreshing and perfect for a hot day!

Makes 1 litre Limeade

Preparation time: 7 minutes

Cooking time: 7 minutes

1 cup water

1/2-2/3 cup white sugar (depending on how sweet you want it)

1.5 cups Woolworths Frozen Lime Slices (freezer section)

Caviar beads from 2 finger limes

750ml soda water, chilled

Step 1 - Boil the water with the sugar until the sugar has dissolved. Add the lime slices and cook for 3-4 minutes. Remove from heat and muddle using a French rolling pin or end of a thick wooden spoon. Allow to cool completely.

Step 2 - Pour into a large 1 litre jug along with finger lime caviar and top up with soda water.

Polenta & Parmesan Chips with Pesto Aioli

Like a lower fat version of hot chips, these polenta and parmesan chips are just like at your favourite restaurant. Baked rather than fried they are crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. I'd even suggest making double for a crowd they're that good.

Preparation time: 3 minutes

Cooking time: 15 minutes

Woolworths Polenta & Parmesan Chips (250g, freezer section)

1/4 cup Woolworths Garlic Aioli

1 tablespoons Woolworths Select Pesto Basil

Parmesan cheese for sprinkling

Basil leaves for decoration

Step 1 - Preheat oven to 200C/400F and line a baking tray with parchment. Place chips in a single layer and bake for 15 minutes or until crispy.

Step 2 - Meanwhile mix the pesto and aioli and place in a small side dish. Grate parmesan cheese on top, add basil leaves and serve with the pesto aioli.

Six Layer Salad

The perfect entertaining salad, this six layer salad melds fresh vegetables and potato, quinoa and bean and pasta salads. This is a real time saver and can feed up to a dozen people as part of a spread.

Preparation time: 15-20 minutes

Cooking time: 0 minutes

800g Woolworths Potato Egg And Bacon Salad

2 avocados, skin and pit removed and chopped

800g Woolworths Ancient Grain Salad

2x200g punnets Solanato Tomato, 3/4 of them quartered, 1/4 halved

2x350g Woolworths Basil Pesto Pasta Salad

300g corn, drained

1/4 cup chives, chopped

Step 1 - Take a trifle bowl and layer the bottom with potato, egg and bacon salad. Add the diced avocado. Then layer with ancient grain salad pressing down gently to create a smooth surface.

Step 2 - Then add the tomatoes-I put a layer of the halved tomatoes cut side facing out and then placed the quartered tomatoes in the centre. Add the basil pesto pasta salad on top of this. Then add the corn on top and then sprinkle with chives.

Nashville Hot Chicken With Maple & Waffles

Now Nashville hot chicken is an entirely different beast than chicken and waffles. Usually Nashville hot chicken is served with a piece of white supermarket bread and not with maple syrup and waffles. But hear me out Dear Reader, sweet goes so well with spicy (think sweet chilli sauce) and while this was delicious without the maple, once I drizzled maple syrup on the chicken it became one of those things that I could not stop eating!

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 45 minutes

850g Woolworths Southern Style Crumbed Chicken Pieces (freezer section)

2 teaspoons smoked hot paprika

2 tablespoons rice bran oil

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or to taste)

130g packet English waffles (6 pieces)

250g Woolworths Maple & Bacon Salad Kit or American slaw

Step 1 - Preheat oven to 200C/400F and line a baking tray with parchment. Lay out chicken pieces in a single layer and sprinkle with hot paprika. Combine oil and cayenne pepper and brush it over the pieces. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until done.

Step 2 - Make the salad by adding the cranberries and bacon bits and then add dressing and toss. Just before serving toast the waffles and add the salad and chicken. Serve with maple syrup (it may sound odd but trust me, it's delicious!).

Beef Brisket & Quick Potato Salad

This recipe saves so much time but the end result doesn't show it (honestly you have to try this!). Beef brisket is a big deal. It takes ages to make and you need a smoker as well. This beef brisket is super soft and tender and tastes like it came from Texas. All you have to do is heat it up in the oven for 30 minutes. For the true Texas experience, eat it with your hands, unadorned without sauce.

Japanese potato salad is definitely not on the menu at a bbq restaurant but hear me out. Most of us have probably tried potato salad but have you ever tried a Japanese potato salad? It's amazing! A Japanese potato salad is mostly made up of soft mashed potato with boiled eggs, mayonnaise, onion, carrot and cucumber. It too can be quite a production but I found a fun use for the Woolworths roasted garlic mash. All I had to do was add the mix ins and condiments and I had a divine Japanese potato salad to go with my beef brisket!

Preparation time: 15-20 minutes

Cooking time: 35 minutes

Serves 4-6

2x 750g Woolworths Simply Heat Smoked Beef Brisket

2x 475g Woolworths Roasted Garlic Mash

3 boiled eggs

1 small red onion, finely diced

3/4 Lebanese cucumber, thinly sliced

1 small carrot, shredded

3/4 cup kewpie mayonnaise

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

2 teaspoons sugar

Salt and pepper to season

Step 1 - Heat BBQ with the lid on to medium heat. Cook the brisket for 30 minutes per 500g of meat. OR cover with oiled foil and roast in a 210C oven for 25 minutes per 500g. Remove foil and cook for 5 minutes. Rest for 10 minutes then slice.

Step 2 - Make the potato salad while the meat is cooking. I find it easiest to have all the ingredients measured out and then you just mix it all up together (don't heat the mash). Season with salt and pepper.

Quick Chocolate Peppermint Ice Cream Cake

Ice Cream cakes usually require freezing for a few hours or overnight to set the entire thing. This one sets in an hour as it uses ice cream sandwiches wedged with some peppermint chocolate cream so freezing time is a lot shorter! The decoration is a cinch too!

2 packets Woolworths Peppermint Chocolate Flakes Ice Cream Sandwich (8 in total freezer section)

600ml cream

4 tablespoons honey or sugar

5 Peppermint crisp bars

1 tablespoon cocoa powder

Fresh mint leaves to decorate

Step 1 - Line a long loaf tin on the base and sides with parchment. Smash up 2 of the peppermint crisp bars and set aside. Whip the cream with honey or sugar until soft peaks form and then mix in the smashed chocolate bars.

Step 2 - Spread some on the base and sides of the lined tin. Line with the ice cream sandwiches and the smooth some more cream to fill in the gaps and make another layer of ice cream sandwiches. Cover with some more of the peppermint cream and cover and freeze. It should be set in about an hour or so since the inside is made up of frozen ice cream sandwiches.

Step 3 - Dust with cocoa powder and then the remaining smashed peppermint bars.

Peanut Butter Salted Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Sandwiches

These peanut butter salted chocolate chip ice cream sandwiches are the ultimate easy dessert. Sometimes biscuits can get soft in the freezer but these King of Chunky Chocolate Chip Cookies stay crisp as you make them fresh every time!

Preparation time: 5 minutes

Cooking time: 0 minutes

1 litre tub of Woolworths Peanut Butter and Salted chocolate Ice Cream

1/2 cup creamy or chunky peanut butter

310g box Woolworths The King Of Chunky Chocolate Chip Cookies

Step 1 - Leave ice cream out for 5 minutes to soften a bit. Spread peanut butter on the inside of one cookie. Scoop some ice cream on top and press down with another cookie. Freeze until needed.

Source: https://www.notquitenigella.com/2019/02/12/easy-summer-recipes-10-minutes/

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lifealert1blog-blog · 5 years

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Get Trendy

In society, we see trends everywhere; fashion, cars, movies and believe it or not, even food too! 2019 has brought to light some huge food trends that are gaining followers and steam. Want to know what one’s are worthy of your time ? Keep reading below!

There are a few things in life that are forever trendy and one of those things is safety. If you are an aging senior looking to maintain your independence, Life Alert Protection has been the trendiest medical alert device for over 30 years; just ask any of the hundreds of thousands of customers! So, why is Life Alert all the hype? Well, while wearing their lightweight, waterproof emergency pendant, you can summon an help fast with just one touch of a button. No matter what life threatening emergency you may face, Life Alert’s dispatch team can send you the proper authorities fast, 24/7. Safety is always trendy; stay cool, even in the face of danger by getting Life Alert Protection today!

Everyday Health[1] has gathered several registered dietitian nutritionists to help share the biggest food trends of 2019. Find out what you’ll be seeing in the grocery store aisles and in the magazines next week!

1. Eats With Prebiotic and Probiotic Perks for Better Gut Health: When it comes to getting your fill of gut-healthy probiotics, you now have many options beyond yogurt. Lifeway Kefir spreadable Farmer Cheese is strained from kefir and contains a dozen strains of probiotics. And then there’s Farmhouse Culture’s Kraut Krisps, made from, well, sauerkraut, and oatmeal with heat-resistant probiotics from ThinkThin. Standard probiotic foods include kombucha, kvass, kimchi, and plain kefir itself. Don’t forget about prebiotics, which feed that friendly gut bacteria. Kellogg’s Happy Inside cereal provides both pre- and probiotics, plus fiber to additionally boost gut health. “We are learning more and more about the benefits of a healthy microbiome, so there’s a lot of interest about ways to feed the trillions of bacteria in our guts,” says Samantha Cassetty, RD. The microbiome is the community of bacteria in the gut that may play a role in the development of health conditions such as diabetes, eczema, cancer, and depression, according to the Genetic Science Learning Center at the University of Utah.

2. Foods With Sustainable Benefits So You Can Benefit the Planet, Not Just Your Body: “Do good” is a mantra many companies, small and big alike, are standing by these days. General Mills, for instance, set a goal to sustainably source 10 of its top ingredients by the year 2020. It’s currently meeting 76 percent of that goal, with all of its palm oil, 99 percent of its fiber packaging, 81 percent of its U.S. sugar beets, and 67 percent of its U.S. dry milled corn sustainably sourced. This notably impacts its Cheerios and Nature Valley lines. Also, the bottled beverage company Rebbl ethically employs workers and donates 2.5 percent of its net sales to reduce the risk of exploitation and human trafficking. And don’t forget about sustainably sourced eggs. “Vital Farms’ hens are allowed to forage freely, and this keeps the pastures healthy and means harmful chemicals aren’t necessary,” says Cassetty. “It’s a win for the animals, a win for the environment, and a win for egg lovers because pasture-raised eggs have more vitamins and minerals than eggs produced in other ways.”

3. Convenience Superfoods for When You’re On the Go: It’s now easier than ever to eat healthy when you’re in a hurry. Don’t have time to prepare sweet potato toast from scratch? Caulipower just launched frozen slices that you just pop into the toaster oven. You also have no excuses to skip the whole grains, since you can buy single-serving bowls of microwave quinoa from Minute Rice. And if you're looking for a little extra nutritional oomph from your nut butter, Probar offers single-serve packets of almond butter with berry powder (think acai and more) for extra antioxidants. “We are seeing a trend toward more plant-based eating and people wanting whole-food ingredients, but consumers are still busy and need convenience,” says Bannan. “I’m happy to see new products that make it easier for consumers to embrace healthy eating on the go.”

4. New Plant-Based Milks From Surprising Sources: Looking for a plant-based milk? Your options now include much more than almond and soy milk. From banana to walnut to hemp, hazelnut, oat, and flaxseed milk, products now exist to suit almost any dietary preference and need. "People always love a trend, and plant-based is the hottest trend right now, fueling the desire for multiple plant-based milk sources,” says Kyle. “Certain plant-based milks, like banana milk or oat milk, are appealing to consumers because they are generally free of many of the top eight allergens that are typically present in more traditional milks like almond or soy. Look for oat milk from Oatly, walnut and hazelnut milks from Elmhurst 1925, pecan milk from MALK, flax milk from Manitoba Milling Co., and banana milk from Mooala. Wondering why your alternative milk’s label says “milked nuts” or “malk”? It’s because the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is in the process of likely banning all nondairy milks from using “milk” in their names. Note that while banana milk is delicious and provides nutrients like blood-pressure-helping potassium, you’ll typically get more satiating protein from a nut- or seed-based milk. For an easily accessible source of protein, opt for calcium-rich dairy milk. Check the nutrition facts label to choose a milk that meets your nutritional needs.

5. Innovative Lactose-Free Dairy Products That Go Beyond Milk: Food for people with specific dietary needs is plentiful right now. That includes lactose-free dairy — and we’re not talking just milk. You can now find lactose-free cottage cheese, kefir, and yogurt from Green Valley Creamery. And Cabot Cheese boasts a “lactose-free” label on several of its cheeses, including aged Cheddar and Colby Jack. “Certain health conditions may prevent [some people] from enjoying traditional forms of food, like certain bovine dairy-based milk, and they are increasingly interested in the alternative options coming to the marketplace,” says Kyle.

6. More Keto-, Paleo- and Low-FODMAP-Friendly Foods: Many people are either interested in specific eating styles or increasingly aware of their own dietary sensitivities. That’s why you’ll find many convenience foods tailored to low-FODMAP eating patterns — meaning these foods avoid ingredients that tend to trigger IBS symptoms, such as onion, garlic, and even gluten. Fody offers low-FODMAP salsa, ketchup, salad dressings, and more, while Rachel Pauls sells low-FODMAP bars, jerky, and spices. Even Prego offers a Sensitive Recipe pasta sauce sans onions and garlic. “I think we’re finally moving away from [only] calories and numbers,” says Cynthia Sass, RD, MPH. “My clients want to know more about the functional benefits of foods, including how they impact digestive health, immunity, sleep, energy, and mental focus. More consumers are now connecting food choices with everyday quality-of-life outcomes, and labels that offer more information can help make that easier.” You’ll also find food labels promoting specific dietary patterns, such as paleo and keto. Think grain-free paleo snack puffs from Lesser Evil and multiple brands offering keto-specific products. Of course, be sure to talk to your doctor before trying any restrictive diet plan, including keto and paleo!

7. Protein-Powered Foods to Help You Crush Your Next Gym Sesh: Protein is all the rage, and here’s why: It helps keep you fuller for longer, helping to fight the urge to snack all day long and also providing fuel for your workouts. You’ll find YQ by Yoplait plain yogurt made with ultra-filtered milk, offering 17 grams of protein per 5.3-ounce single-serve container; collagen-based coffee creamer from Vital Proteins; and ready-to-drink soups with collagen protein from Zupa Noma.

8. More Classic, Go-to Snacks in Healthier Whole-Grain Varieties: You won’t find only the typical whole grains in your bread, pasta, and snack food nowadays. Think of lentils, rice, and pea protein blended in a gluten-free pasta from Modern Table, sorghum-based gluten-free pretzels from Quinn Snacks, and soup featuring whole-grain pasta from Campbell’s. “People recognize that whole grains are much more nutritious than refined grains, so they’re prioritizing these when shopping for packaged products,” says Cassetty. “One brand I love is Quinn Snacks. Since they’re made with whole grains, I feel good about giving them to my son and recommending them to clients looking for a healthier snack, in moderation. I also like their microwave popcorn because unlike other brands, the toppings are added after it’s popped.”

9. Packaged Foods That Make It Easier to Eat More Plants: The plant-based packaged-food category is more expansive than ever. “The plant-based movement ties into a number of trending consumer priorities, including health protection, environmental stewardship, and ethically driven eating,” Sass says. “My clients constantly tell me they feel better physically and feel good about how they are spending their food dollars when they eat more plant-based foods.” When it comes to new finds, think pumpkin seed butter from 88 Acres, algae oil from Thrive, chia seed oil from Lekithos, and even dark-chocolate-covered chickpeas from Biena.

10. Almost-Ready-to-Eat Healthy Breakfasts: Frozen and other quick-cooking lunches and dinners have been on offer for years. But convenient, almost ready-to-eat balanced breakfasts haven’t been as plentiful in the supermarket aisles — that is, until now. Many of these are in bowl and mug form. You can pick up a Dr. Praeger’s bowl with egg whites and or an Amy’s Kitchen bowl with tofu, quinoa, meatless sausage, and vegetables. And Kodiak Cakes now sells whole-grain flapjack microwave mug cups. “Health-conscious consumers don’t want to eat bagels, pastries, or sugary cereals for breakfast,” says Sass. “I think we’ll see more products that marry nutrition and convenience, and fit a category I refer to as ‘homemade for you,’ meaning simple ingredients you could have combined yourself but didn’t have to because someone prepared them for you.”

All those new health trends are food for thought! But while you work hard to stay trendy and put the good stuff on the inside; do you have anything to protect you on the outside? If you are an aging senior who is currently looking for a way to maintain your independence, it is time to check out Life Alert Protection. While wearing their emergency pendant you can summon an help fast with just one touch of a button. No matter if you encounter a home invasion, a home fire or even a serious fall, Life Alert’s dispatch team can send you the proper authorities fast. Plus, with 24/7 service, you can feel secure that your personal protection is in place no matter when danger may strike. Safety will always be trendy; get the best by getting Life Alert Protection today! Call 1-800-513-2934 for a free brochure.

Works Cited:

1. Gorin, Amy. “The Top 10 Healthy-Food Trends to Expect in 2019.” Everyday Health. 18 December 2018. <https://www.everydayhealth.com/pictures/top-healthy-food-trends/#foods-with-sustainable-benefits-so-you-can-benefit-the-planet-not-just-your-body >.

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