Lightly Curried Root Veggie Skillet

I'm starving, and I have a lot of calories left for the day, because I forgot to eat before work. Ooops.

So, this is totally going to be one of those meals for 2 that I eat for one. It's sweet, it's salty, it's spicy, and it's super filling. It's also going to help me clear out my fridge a bit.

8 oz. beet, washed and cubed
4 oz. yam, washed and cubed
2 oz. spring onion bulb, cut how you prefer it (I like it almost quartered and peeled-big chunks)
2 oz. fennel bulb stalks, chopped like celery
3 pieces center-cut, reduced sodium bacon, cooked then torn up into bite size pieces
1/2 Tbsp. curry powder
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
2 large eggs
salt and ground black pepper to taste

Before tossing stuff in your pan, consider how you like your eggs. If you prefer them sunny side up, you'll want something you can toss a lid on.
Cook bacon. Reserve about 1/2 Tbsp. of drippings, and store the rest in the fridge, covered for a week (you can do longer, but I rarely have any left beyond this point). Set bacon aside to drain
Toss beet, yam, onion, pepper flakes, and chopped fennel stalk into the bacon grease and cook it up until onions are fairly translucent and yam is just under fork tender.
Add curry powder, sprinkling it over a bit at a time and stirring in.
Cook until yams begin to brown, then add bacon back in.
Sweep your goodies to the side, and toss those eggs in whatever way you like them.

Serves 2 at 286 calories

Comments

Stale Bread Monkey Bread

I hate food waste. I try really hard not to do it. Just ask my mother-when she cuts romaine I annoy her mercilessly for wasting the ends rather than saving them for soup.

So I was unhappy to find the rolls I bought on Saturday for the kielbasa dinner I had planned tonight were absolutely rock hard this morning. Immediately I started looking for ways to use up stale bread that weren't bread crumbs or french toast.

And then I saw a monkey bread recipe using fresh bread, rather than biscuits. So, I figured, I could adapt it to this.

1 bag of stale rolls (about a gallon bag and a half), diced large
2 eggs, beaten well
1 cup sugar
1 Tbsp +/- cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 stick of butter, melted
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
Preheat oven to 350F.Thoroughly grease whatever you're using to bake. This doesn't stick together as well as the fresh made stuff (make sense if you think about it-no gooey bread). I used the traditional bunt, but next time I'll use a plain old casser…

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I looooooove pretzels. Someone mentioned to me that sometimes when bakeries that make pretzels run out of pretzel dough, they just use the bread dough, and I was like wahhhhhh?

So this was probably a bad thing for me to learn how to do. I might have eaten the first batch all by myself. And they come out perfect every time. But I especially love them in beer cheese, so I did some searching and then took a little from everything and came up with a lovely, gooey side of cheese.

Soft Pretzels
12 frozen white dinner rolls (I use Rhodes or my homemade yeast rolls)
1 egg+1 Tbsp. water
Salt
6 cups water
1/2 cup baking soda
Allow your dinner rolls to thaw. The oil your hands and roll them into logs.Cover and let rise for 1 hour.About 15 minutes before the hour is up, preheat oven to 375In your big saute pan, combine water and baking soda. Bring to boil.In a bowl, combine 1 egg and 1 Tbsp. of water. Whisk smooth.Once rolls have risen, drop each roll into baking soda water, and let cook 30 se…

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It's really good. Like, a perfect way to use up all of that dang zucchini!

I recommend assembling in the order given.

Filling
20 oz. summer squash/zucchini
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 cup Lakanto monk-fruit sweetener
1/4 cup sugar
1-2 Tbsp cornstarch
Cinnamon, Clove, and Ginger to taste
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I was craving the dish. It's been so hot out. I like it cold, but you can eat it warm or cold. But, I was out of canned coconut milk, so I had to see what would happen if I used the drink-milk instead of the pure stuff.

It makes for a lighter flavor, which I really like. it's good for breakfast or dessert.

1 lbs. glutinous rice
1 2/3 cups so delicious coconut milk drink, unsweetened
3 Tbsp. Lakanto
2 tsp. Vanilla Bean Paste
1/4 tsp. salt
Fruit
Soak rice overnight in just enough water to cover+1/4 inch.Cover bowl of soaked rice with plate, cook 3 minutes in microwave.Stir rice, and repeat until water absorbed and rice i…

Cauliflower & Cheese Bake

This is the longest winter ever. It seems like it will never end. I think we're having a few signs up spring now. Lighter outside. But the nights are still super cold, and snow flurries are still in the game.
I wanted comfort food without wrecking my reboot, and I still have some frozen cauliflower in the freezer, so I thought I'd give "mac" a try. If I could get all the cheesy goodness for less calories, I'd be happy.
It worked! Although, next time I think I'll rice my cauliflower, it was super cheesy, creamy and delicious.

Cheesy Cauliflower 16 oz. cauliflower florets, frozen
1 cup cheddar, shredded 2 Tbsp. butter 2 Tbsp. flour 1 cup so delicious coconut milk drink, unsweetened
Topping 2 cups beer bread, cubed 2 Tbsp. butter Microwave frozen florets until no longer frozen. I do about 8 minutes.Preheat oven to 400F.While that's going on, grease you 8x8 or 9x9 baking dish.In your large saucepan, melt butter.Whisk in flour until smooth.Add milk. Whisk …

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Winter is almost officially here, but it's been snowy and gross for a month in the Southern Tier. My CSA farm share is over, and I've started trying to clear out the fridge and prep things before they go off for storage.

It's also that time of year where I'm grading until I die, and I'm cold, cranky, and hungry. So I thought I'd toss together a simple skillet to pick away at all day. I used up the last of my pretty purple faux kraut I made with red cabbage. I'm going to have to do that again!

6 oz. turnips, diced small
6 oz. daikon radish (or red radishes, either work) diced small
2 oz. red onion, diced small
6.5 oz. Hillshire Farms Turkey Kielbasa
1-2 tsp. extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup Faux Kraut or Sauerkraut

Combine turnips, radish, and onion in skillet with olive oil, just enough to brown with. If you want to kick up the flavor, try an infused oil. I infuse mine with ghost peppers.Once it starts to tan up, add in kielbasa.Cook until tender and kielb…

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Beets are edible from leaf to root, but the stems are stringy like celery and have a strong flavor. I've found the best use for them is to pickle them for snacks.

The trick to a good refrigerator pickle is all in the choice of vinegar. For most, my go to is unseasoned rice vinegar. You can use any though, just be prepared to experiment. For example, white and apple cider generally need a larger amount of water.

The recipe here can be used to make any kind of fridge pickle. Just stick to the same ratio of vinegar, water, and salt.

Beet Stems
1 Tbsp. Minced Garlic
1 Tbsp. Kosher Salt
1/4 cup Tbsp. Fresh Dill
Rice Vinegar
Water
Ball Regular Mouth Pint Mason Jar
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2 cups fresh papaya, packed
2 Tbsp. really raw honey, heated a bit to make runny
1/4 a cup, give or take, coconut water (simply balanced brand is my current fave)
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