Tag: recipes

Kwanzaa Keepsake and Cookbook

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Image of Kwanzaa Keepsake and Cookbook Book

I checked the book above out of the library. A Kwanzaa Keepsake and Cookbook by Jessica B. Harris is a short hardcover that packs everything essential into the guide to the celebration.

The First Night: Umoja for Unity.

The Second Night: Kujichagulia for Self-Determination.

The Third Night: Ujima for Collective Work and Responsibility.

The Fourth Night: Ujamaa for Cooperative Economics.

The Fifth Night: Nia for Purpose.

The Sixth Night: Kuumba for Creativity.

The Seventh Night: Imani for Faith.

Each night’s chapter has info, recipes, a project at the end, and blank lined pages to write in your own recipes and recollections.

While a White American won’t celebrate Kwanzaa I’m fond of how a holiday like this was created for Black Americans to celebrate. Sharing community meals is what’s needed at this time in history where things seem to be going backwards in terms of others giving you and me and everyone else dignity.

We each of us should be proud of our culture and our heritage regardless of whether others hold us in high regard or don’t when we’re of that background.

I’m going to create a festival for those of us living in recovery to celebrate at this time of the year. We should have our own gathering with themed days.

You can like I did check A Kwanzaa Keepsake and Cookbook out of the library. Some of the recipes feature vegetables not just meat which can be good for vegetarians or vegans who celebrate Kwanzaa.

Coming up reflections on the New Year and setting resolutions that we can actually keep. My thinking is that a New Year’s resolution should be easy to get done. It’s the ideal time to focus on Who we want to Be not just on What we want to Do.

Weekly Eating Plan

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The following is the health coach vetted nutrition practice that I try my best to follow every week:

It’s a fact that the oceans have been overfished. Farmed salmon is not OK to eat though. What do I think? I’m going to have baked salmon once a week. There’s a deli counter at a food market that sells this fish.

It’s quick and easy: heat for 20 minutes with Brussel sprouts (also from deli counter) in a baking dish at 350 degrees.

I can also get from the deli counter roasted vegetables which don’t need to be cooked. The deli vegetables are not organic and I’m OK with this. Otherwise I buy online frozen bags of organic broccoli, spinach leaves, cauliflower, and green beans.

As well once a week or every other week I order grilled shrimp from the online grocery delivery service. I also order dry sea scallops with the weekly delivery.

For lunch I order a mixed greens salad with no dressing. Add organic cashews and chickpeas and Cento pitted olives. Toss Boticelli finishing olive oil and balsamic vinegar to dress the salad.

This is the standard fare. I have the salad for lunch 3 times a week. I read a while ago that bringing your lunch from home to your job 3x/per week is OK and a viable option. It can be impossible to expect ourselves to bring lunches from home 5 days a week.

The goal as I see it is to have the grace to accept that you and I cannot do the right things 100 percent of the time every day of every week of our lives.

Coming up I’m going to review a food product I found. The origin story of the company might be a come-on. Yet I’ll talk about this food because it shows that there are alternatives to common products laden with chemical additives or questionable kinds of fat.

Homemade-ish Recipes

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Homemade-ish Book Cover

The cookbook above can be checked out of the library. I recommend buying it. From the guide I created 3 recipes two of which were for dips.

The photos below are the homemade-ish food from top to end in this order:

Spice Rack Whipped Cheeses with Hot Honey:

The food below is Creamed Mozzarella with Honey-Drenched Sun-Dried Tomatoes:

Lastly the Cloud Caprese Cups:

Change and Motivation

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I was known as the Salad Girl at my job because I consistently had salads for lunch in the staff kitchen.

Suddenly after 23 years of having salads for lunch I was done with having salads at noon time. The buying of the lettuce and other food, schlepping it to work, and preparing the salad nearly every day took its toll.

I remembered what my trainer at the gym told me a year ago after I lamented to him that I wondered what particular kinds of food I should eat to be healthy.

He responded to my granular ethic thus: “Eat food. You just have to eat food. Whatever kind of food it is just eat.”

That said it got easier when I changed up my weekly routine this winter. Buying organic lettuce and organic salad toppings in my weekly grocery order. Prepping salads for DINNER three or four days a week. Having the salad with a side of steamed shrimp one night or a can of Cento tuna in olive oil with the salad on another night. With slices of avocado.

The curious improvement was that when I started having salads for dinner I felt good in the evening. The food you eat can improve your mood. Feeling good was the motivation I had for continuing this new dinnertime habit.

In keeping with what my trainer told me I found other food to have for lunch at my job. Though I’m not a vegetarian and I have chicken I eat chicken only once or twice a week. Buying organic chicken to have as a meal for one dinner with an organic vegetable from a frozen bag.

My old friend the deli counter is where I buy a baked salmon filet to heat up on one other night. With regular Brussel sprouts or a beet salad from the friendly deli counter offerings.

Like I said it’s often when we decide “Enough is enough!” that we’re motivated to change our habits or our routine.

Turning 60 in the spring I’m going to create a 20-year plan in which to achieve my goals and resolutions. A person like me isn’t supposed to live to 80. We die 20 years earlier than the regular population according to naysayers who parrot this claim.

This simply isn’t true when you take care of your health the best you can with what you were given. Any of us with a disadvantage–popping pills we need to take to be well; having a genetic medical issue; whatever it is–we can choose to do what’s in our control to improve.

The things we can’t control we should accept. Focus instead on what’s in our power to change. Know that there’s no shame regardless of our fitness level or lack of fitness.

Perfection is a myth because it implies there can be no growth. What I’ve learned and have come to accept is that I can have other food and maintain my health.

In coming blog entries I’ll talk about the epiphanies that hit me in recent weeks re: achieving and sustaining wellness.

Spicy Yogurt Spaghetti

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The November issue of Bon Appetit has this recipe:

Cook 1 pound spaghetti in large pot of salted water. Stir every so often until 1 minute less than package direction for al dente.

Drain. Reserve 2 cups of pasta cooking water. Return pasta to the pot. Add 1 1/4 cups plain whole-milk Greek yogurt. Toss with tongs to coat thoroughly.

Add 1/2 cup pasta cooking water and then toss. Add cooking water a splash at a time to get to a creamy sauce like Alfredo.

Use shallow bowls to divide pasta into. Top with your desired amount of chili crisp. I bought and used Momofuku chili crunch.

Serves 4 to 6.

A surprising combination of flavors. Yet a recipe to try once to see if you like it.

The fall just might be the season to cook this recipe too.

Bacon Butternut Squash

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This recipe is from the Joanna Gaines cookbook Magnolia Table: A Collection of Recipes for Gathering Volume 3. Since the recipe is too long and detailed and owing to copyright I won’t reprint it here.

Of course my version looks nowhere near the prettified bacon butternut squash photo in the cookbook.

Plus I didn’t use bacon so instead of sauteing the butternut squash and shallots in bacon dripping I splashed a little organic EVOO in the skillet. Too I would say you definitely need to add a splash of water to the skillet halfway through so that the pan doesn’t get dry and burnt.

This is a tasty dinner I had that was listed in the Side Dishes section of the cookbook. I would definitely use this recipe again as the food is so delicious.

It calls for 4 cups of butternut squash and I was one person having this meal. For a side dish like it was intended it might serve 4 people.

In fact I might buy this Volume 3 of Magnolia Table as I want to try other recipes in the cookbook.

I buy the Magnolia Journal magazine which also has recipes and interesting articles to read.

Now that butternut squash is in season it’s the perfect lunch or dinner.

Be aware that you need counter space or else use your sink basin to prepare the ingredients.

I accidently bought a brick of parmesan cheese that I had to grate. It was OK to buy the parmesan cheese pre-grated however I didn’t realize this. Save yourself the trouble and buy a container of grated parmesan.

Pesto & White Bean Stuffed Tomato

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1 large tomato

1/4 cup canned white beans rinsed

2 teaspoons pesto

Torn fresh basil for garnish

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Slice tomato horizontally and hollow out each half. Fill with beans and drizzle with pesto.

You can sprinkle salt on the tomato and garnish with basil if you want.

I didn’t use the salt or basil.

This is the ideal quick meal recipe. Tomatoes are in season in the summer and even at the end of the summer.

These tomatoes would be a great snack instead of chips or pretzels.

I buy organic beefsteak tomatoes and Goya organic Cannellini beans to create the recipe.

Caprese Sandwich

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This is an easy simple recipe that can be used for lunch though I had the sandwich for dinner.

Caprese Sandwich

Sourdough bread

Fresh mozzarella

One medium tomato

Pesto sauce

Balsamic glaze

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Spread thin layer of pesto sauce on two slices of bread.

On one slice add mozzarella slices over pesto. Place tomato slices over cheese.

Drizzle balsamic glaze over top.

The original recipe calls for adding basil leaves over the mozzarella.

Cover the sandwich with other slice of bread.

Spread butter over each side of bread. Heat in skillet for 3 to 4 minutes on each side.

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I used Gotham Greens Classic Pesto and Bread Alone certified organic Whole Wheat Sourdough plus an organic beefsteak tomato.

Lastly: I burned the skillet at the end of heating the second side. You might want to heat the second side of bread for only 3 minutes.

Alfredo Corn

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The upside-down pasta bowl proclaims Bon Appetit. The recipe for the alfredo corn in the photo comes from Bon Appetit magazine. It’s creamed corn circa 2024. Better than the store-bought kind which likely has a chemical additive via natural flavor as an ingredient.

This is my new favorite recipe. Though I used 3 ears of corn the kernels did not fill up 2 cups in the measuring cup. In the future I’ll buy six ears of corn to make the full recipe.

Plus I did not use the Parmesan cheese crisps. I also used David’s Kosher salt not the Morton.

2 Tbsp. unsalted butter cut into pieces

1/2 tsp. freshly ground pepper

2 cups fresh corn kernels (from about 2 large ears)

2 tsp. cornstarch

1/2 tsp. Diamond Crystal or 1/4 tsp. Morton kosher salt plus more

2 oz. Parmesan finely grated (about 1 cup) plus more for serving

Store-bought Parmesan cheese crisps (such as Whisps for serving)

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Melt butter in a medium high-sided skillet over medium heat. Add pepper and cook, swirling pan, until fragrant, about 45 seconds. Add corn and cook, tossing often, until tender, about 2 minutes.

Mix cornstarch and 1/2 tsp. Diamond Crystal or 1/4 tsp. Morton kosher salt into 1/2 cup room-temperature water in a small bowl until dissolved. Add to pan; cook, stirring constantly, until liquid thickens and clings to corn, about 2 minutes.

Remove pan from heat. Add 2 oz. Parmesan and stir vigorously until mixture is creamy and melted. Taste creamed corn and season with more salt if needed.

Spoon creamed corn into a shallow bowl. Top with more Parmesan; coarsely crush a handful of cheese crips over.

Chocolate Cornstarch Pudding

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I took this recipe from allrecipes.com. Just say no to boxed instant pudding with food dye. Per serving this had 33g sugar so it’s best reserved for an every-so-often treat.

To its credit the recipe per serving has 6g protein.

The recipe serves 4. Yet I used only 3 crystal bowls filled up near to the top.

For a summertime and year-round treat I say yes to this pudding from scratch.

The chocolate pudding tastes like real chocolate. Not the chemical chocolate taste of the instant boxed kind.

I had a bowl of this chocolate for breakfast. It tastes delish. I recommend steering clear of products in supermarkets. Instead use recipes or create on your own recipes for food like this that you can make from scratch.

Though you were supposed to stir constantly for 20 minutes on medium heat I have a hotter flame. So I stirred the mixture for only 10 minutes.

Here’s the recipe:

Chocolate Cornstarch Pudding

1/2 cup white sugar

3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 cup cornstarch

1/8 teaspoon salt

2 3/4 cups milk

2 tablespoons butter, room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

  1. Stir together sugar, cocoa, cornstarch, and salt in a saucepan. Place over medium heat and stir in milk.
  2. Bring to a boil, and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a metal spoon.
  3. remove from heat, and stir in butter and vanilla.
  4. Let cool briefly, and serve warm, or chill in the refrigerator until serving.