Stewed Rhubarb with Ginger

The first of my rhubarb this season has shot up with all the rain.

Today seemed as good a day as any to harvest the largest stalks and chop them up for stewed rhubarb.

No real recipe or amounts here, so to speak.

I simply chopped up what I had, added a splash of orange juice and a generous knob of grated ginger root, sugar to taste, and simmered everything until it was soft, but chunky.  Added a splash of vanilla and spooned into glass jars to cool.

My favourite way to enjoy stewed rhubarb is spooned over balkan yogurt and sprinkled with chopped nuts or granola.

It tastes delicious over vanilla ice-cream or spooned on top of pound cake, swirled into warm oatmeal or eaten from a spoon directly from the jar.

The ginger gave it a nice spiciness, but some grated orange or lemon zest or culinary lavender all taste lovely as well.

Granola in the T-fal Actifry

 I do not own a lot of kitchen appliances.

 I have a small kitchen with limited storage space and do not have room on my counter or in my cupboards for larger items that take up a lot of valuable real estate, so the purchase of an air fryer is a bit out of character for me.

I'm still not quite sure where I'm going to store it, but until that time I will likely leave it on my counter and continue experimenting with this fascinating litttle large gadget that, in short, cooks foods by circulating hot air around it while requiring only a very small amount of oil.

This afternoon I made granola which, when done in the oven, usually takes about 45 minutes on low heat and a lot of stirring to avoid the burning of your delicate oats, nuts, and seeds.

I made a batch of granola in the air fryer in 10 minutes with no stirring-- it stirs itself!  I think I'm sold.








Gather:

2 cups of quick cooking (but not instant) rolled oats
3/4 cup chopped nuts ( I used walnuts and almonds )
1/2 cup large flake coconut
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
1 tsp vanilla
2 tsp cinnamon ( or any combination of spices you like-- pumpkin or chai spice might be tasty )
a pinch or two of salt
2 tablespoons melted coconut oil
4 tablespoons of maple syrup or honey
1/4 cup hemp seeds
handful of dried fruit ( I used raisins and chopped apricots)

Do It:

I simply mixed everything in the basket of the air fryer except the hemp and dried fruit, set the timer for 9 minutes, and turned it on.

Add your dried fruit and cook 1 minute more.

Dump in your hemp seeds and pour everything on a large plate or tray to cool.

Store in a sealed container.  I like to use a large, glass mason jar because it looks delicious and why not look at the delicious granola you just made in 10 minutes? It will detract from the giant new appliance sitting out on your counter that needs to find a less visible home!

Vegetarian TVP Tacos

Tonight I needed something really quick for dinner that would satisfy the family with minimal prep work or complaints since a cold has zapped me of energy and any real inspiration to cook or to eat much.

I went with TVP (textured vegetable protein) Tacos.  I forgot how amazingly these turn out.

This recipe found here comes together fast and is full of protein and flavour with very minimal prep time or the forethought to take out ground beef.

I had not planned on eating at all, but after a taste test before serving, I changed my mind.

Whether you are vegetarian/vegan or meatavore, these will not disappoint you.

If you have never cooked with TVP, you might be pretty skeptical, but give these a try.
They likely will surprise you.

I added a handful of very finely-chopped mushroom, which gives great texture and flavour to the mixture, but the addition is completely optional








Gather:

1 Large, finely chopped onion
6 cloves of garlic grated
2 cups of TVP
2 cups boiled water
2 tablespoons of olive oil
2 tablespoons of soy sauce
1/4 cup of finely chopped pickled jalapenos
1/2 cup of salsa
1 packet of taco seasoning mix ( I make this DIY version)
Handful of finely chopped mushrooms if you are using

Do It:

Saute your onion, garlic, and mushrooms, if you are using them, in the olive oil until soft.  Be careful not to let your garlic burn.  Add a wee bit of water to the pan if you need to.

Add the TVP and water and stir for about 2-3 minutes until your TVP fluffs up.

Add your soy sauce, jalapenos, salsa, and taco seasoning and warm everything up for about five minutes more.  Turn off the heat and keep warm with a lid on top until ready to serve.

Serve in hard or soft taco shells (tostadas pictured above) with shredded cheese, salsa, lettuce, sour cream, diced tomatoes, avocados, more pickled jalapenos or whatever other toppings you like.

This mixture also works well on tortilla chips with some cheese, diced tomatoes, jalapenos, and green onions under the broiler for nachos, or on a bed of lettuce with your toppings for taco salad.

Spa Sundae

I needed a small, little something for a teenage girl's birthday and put together this "spa sundae".

It turned out pretty cute.  I gathered a waffle cone sundae cup and bath poof for the ice-cream from the dollar store.

I picked out some nail polish, purse-sized EOS hand cream and single packets of foot soak and scrub, a red EOS lipbalm for a cherry to top the sundae and two emery boards for my spoons.

I sunk the polish and hand cream in the bottom of the cup, topped  it with the poof and EOS, stuck in my spoons, wrapped everything up in some cellophane tucking the remaining scrub, foot balm and toe separators in the bottom of the cello bag.

Voila!

You could change this up however you like with various other beauty items in your cup.  Shoppers had some adorable gel filled cucumber eye pads and lots of single packets of face and hair masks.

Perhaps a bath bomb or an essential oil roller or some handmade soap or salts?

The poof could be replaced with a rolled up pair of socks or a wash cloth but I think the poof works really well.

Might make a nice party favour for a shower or birthday party... end of year teacher appreciation gift or
Mother's day treat.

Everything was pretty easy to come by and even if you want to splurg a bit on your polish or other items, it is a very affordable little gift.

Poached Egg Hack

 

I'm going to Tell You Something Good this morning... this is how to poach an egg (or several for that matter) in 7 minutes or less depending on your desired firmness.  

This is brilliant.  Well, it's brilliant if you get excited about quick ways to make delicious, perfect poached eggs, which I am not embarrassed to say, I do.

And then you can go directly here for 27 things you should put an egg on right now.

Red Lentil Dahl

This is one of my favorite meals, Red Lentil Dahl.  A hearty Indian stew that makes a very satisfying vegetarian meal; it can be made ahead and freezes well for a quick meal later.

I pretty much followed this recipe here.  I used coconut oil in place of butter, omitted the lemon juice, used a 19 oz can of petite cut tomatoes and probably more like 6 cloves of garlic.  I served it over basmati rice.

Pumpkin Loaf

This pumpkin loaf was originally found in Today's Parent magazine.  I think it was actually a recipe for muffins, which I tweaked a bit and poured into a loaf pan instead.

It is a simple and not overly sweet recipe.

Although you could certainly add a handful of nuts, roasted pumpkin seeds, chocolate chips or frozen cranberries to the batter to fancy it up.

Gather:

1/2 cup each plain yogurt, brown sugar and pure pumpkin puree.

1 egg

2 tsp. of vanilla

1/4 cup melted coconut oil

1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp. baking soda

pinch of salt



Do It:

Mix the sugar, yogurt pumpkin, and vanilla.

Whisk in your egg, stirring to combine.

Add the dry ingredients to the above, followed by the melted coconut oil, stirring until it's just combined for a nice, fluffy, textured loaf.

Pour batter into a greased loaf pan and sprinkle with raw, coarse sugar.

Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 50 minutes, or until golden on top and knife inserted comes out clean.  

Alternately, pour into a muffin tin and bake at 400 degrees for approximately 20 minutes.

Cool on wire rack and remove from loaf pan.