Veggie Tales

September 13, 2011 By 1 Comment

I’ve mentioned that we were lucky to be able to leave the farm with lots of fresh produce to bring home and enjoy. We have been eating very healthily as I come up with creative ways to use up everything we were given. The other night we had two new vegetables that I had not cooked or eaten before. We enjoyed both of them.

I was really looking forward to trying my first butternut squash and I was not disappointed. I have three squash so I found three recipes that I want to make with them. Jesse had his mind set that he did not like butternut squash so I was extra determined to find a recipe that he would enjoy… and I did. I win!!

I started by cutting the squash in half lengthwise and scooping out the seeds. Then I peeled off the skin.

Butternut squash

I cut each half into small cubes and tossed them in olive oil.

Cubed squash

Then I spread them out on a cookie sheet. In retrospect, it would have been much better to use a dish to cook them in. I thought the cookie sheet would leave them farther apart to help them get crispier, but they were quite juicy and leaked onto the bottom of my oven.

Cooking squash

I drizzled just a tad of honey and sprinkled salt, pepper, garlic powder, and a little chili powder on top. They cooked at 375 for about 25 minutes.

Finished squash

They were delicious! It tasted very similar to when I make roasted potatoes, you almost couldn’t tell it was squash if not for the color. It was very tasty and I can’t wait to try my other squash recipes.

I also had a turnip to figure out how to use. I had tried a piece raw before we left the farm so I thought we should try it cooked too. I boiled it until it was soft and mashed it. Then I cooked some carrots and green onions in olive oil and stirred in the mashed turnip. It’s kinda funny if you can imagine Jesse and I sharing one turnip… but it was enough to give us a taste. It was fine, tasted pretty much the same as mashed potatoes. We ate and enjoyed it, but I don’t feel the need to have turnips again any time soon.

Turnip

Those are my veggie tales for this week. Any favorite recipes that I need to make with my remaining squash?

Filed Under: Recipes Tagged With: ,

No-Noodles Lasagna

September 8, 2011 By 10 Comments

Lasagna has always been one of our favorite meals, but I haven’t made it in a long time because I can no longer have the noodles or that much cheese. Then we were watching a cooking show a while ago where they used sliced zucchini in place of the noodles. It sounded like a great idea. I’ve been meaning to try it for a while now and finally made a gluten free and allergen friendly version of lasagna.

I started by sauteing half a chopped onion and some minced garlic in olive oil. When the onions were soft, I added about a pound of pre-cooked ground beef, and a jar of my favorite spaghetti sauce. While that simmered over low heat, I sliced a zucchini and a yellow squash as thinly as I could. I used produce I brought home from Bill in Ohio.

Sliced zucchini

After spreading a thin layer of sauce on the bottom of my baking dish, I layered squash, meat mixture, and shredded mozzarella cheese. I made three layers and alternated the direction of the squash after each layer.

Squash layer

When I finished my layers I sprinkled a generous portion of parmesan cheese on top and a little bit of basil, mostly for decoration.

Cheese on top

It baked at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes, enough time to make sure the cheese on top is fully melted. Let it stand for at least five minutes before serving.

Baked lasagna

It came out great! I was worried that it wouldn’t hold together very well without the thick noodles and it would just be a big mess when we ate it, but it didn’t. It was very tasty and I didn’t feel like I was missing out by not having the noodles. It also passed the Jesse test… he liked it and even went back for seconds.

Lasagna piece

This was a win… will definitely be making this again. I’m happy to bring lasagna back into our lives. Yummy!

Filed Under: Allergies, Recipes

Namaste Foods: Chocolate Cake and Frosting

August 17, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Before last night, the last time I had cake was in October. I remember because I had just finished my month of food challenge testing after my allergy testing revealed several food allergies. Someone had brought some leftover cake into work and I took a piece. I took all of about five minutes for me to feel terrible. I remember that I was so upset that I wasn’t going to be able to go back to my normal diet again. It just wasn’t worth it to feel so bad for so long just for a couple mouthfuls of yummy-ness.

I’ve had my eye on the Namaste chocolate cake and chocolate fudge frosting for quite a while now. I had seen it on their website, but never in any stores and I couldn’t bring myself to pay more for shipping than the cost of the product. Then last week it was on the shelf at my Nutrition S’Mart!

Namaste mixes

I was more than pleased with the cake mix. It tasted very chocolate-y and came out very moist. I even cut out one of the three eggs the recipe on the package suggested (since too much egg bothers my stomach) and it still turned out fluffy enough. The cake was great!

The frosting… not so much. I’m sad to say there is now a Namaste product that I am not head over heels about. It was very difficult to make. It just would not mix! I found myself beating it with my electric mixer forever and it kept getting stuck as a big clump in the beaters. By the end I had added way more water than the package called for to make it come out at all, I almost gave up on it. Since I’ve loved every other Namaste product I’ve bought, I didn’t think to check any reviews on it. After having problems with it I went online and found that I was not the only one. I didn’t really care for the taste too much either… can you believe I didn’t even lick the beaters clean?! It was really hard to spread it on the cake too because it was drying out faster than I could use it. Such a shame since this is the ONLY frosting I’ve seen that is corn free.

Leftover frosting

My cake still did turn out great though. I added some Enjoy Life chocolate chips to disguise my bad frosting job. Luckily, it didn’t scare anyone away from trying it.

Finished cake

Oh… the cake was great! The frosting tasted much better on the cake than it did plain. My chocolate-loving family even approved. I like to get others’ opinions because sometimes I think I can’t have as honest of a review anymore now that I really don’t have many options to compare it with. They agreed that it was as yummy as I thought it was. I can’t wait to finish off the rest of the cake!

Cake!

In the end, I guess I would still buy it again when I really “need” cake again. However, the Namaste brownies are just as good and a LOT easier to make.

Filed Under: Allergies, Food Reviews, Recipes Tagged With: , , ,