Server Switch Complete – PLEASE UPDATE ALL LINKS, etc.

So – I successfully made the switch from a WordPress hosted blog to my blog being self hosted! Yay  – for Tasty Yummies growing up! You can see the newly updated site here: Tasty-Yummies.com. Everything is the same as always, many of you won’t experience any changes, except the newer look – but if you happen to come to this old WordPress specific link (which rarely was used, as I had the Tasty-Yummies.com address over-ridding it) – it will no longer be updated. Please make sure that if for some reason you had the WordPress link stored as your bookmark, that you change it to Tasty-Yummies.com. Most of you should already have that as your bookmark, as that was the main URL of the site all along.

Additionally, if you previously signed up to receive emails or to follow the blog through your WordPress dashboard – you will have to resign up to receive emails on the newly updated site Tasty-Yummies.com, you can also grab the RSS feed from there as well.

If you are having any problems or issues with the new site, please let me know. I hope to be updating and changing more and more things as the weeks go on, so look for the site to be a bit more user-friendly, easier to search, better organized, etc. Thanks so much for taking the time to read my blog, it truly means the world to me to know that people are not only reading this blog, cooking from it and even coming back for more! It puts a smile on many face daily! Thank you!

Maybe Some Down Time…

Just wanted to let you know there may be a bit of an interruption on my blog as I am attempting to migrate to my own server finally. It is proving to be a bit more difficult than I had expected, so in the mean time just use this link directly https://tastyyummies.wordpress.com instead of www.tasty-yummies.com. Hopefully very soon tasty-yummies.com will be on it’s own server and prettier than ever and easier to navigate and all that good stuff.

So just bear with me in the meantime, in case the site goes down. Thanks.

No Bake Pecan Pie Bars – Gluten-free, Raw and Vegan

I have become obsessed with Medjool dates and I am still just as amazed now as I was the first time I baked with them. It is incredible how sweet they are. I have made quite a few simple raw “cookie” balls in the processor with just oats and/or nuts, some dates and other goodies like chocolate chips or peanut butter. They are so simple and a totally healthy way to get your sweets-fix. I need to start taking photos of those and sharing them with you. You will love them.

A few months back while shopping at the Lexington CoOp here in Buffalo, I ran across something called a “Raw Pecan Pie Bar” (I forget the name of the company that made it) – it was raw and sweetened only with dates and also had sprouted pecans and sprouted something else (can’t remember, again). It immediately peaked my interest, so I picked one up. It was quite tasty, but I couldn’t help but think I could make it even better. Plus, at $3.50 for a single small bar, I knew I could make it cheaper.

I had been looking at different recipes online for date bars as a base for my recipe and ultimately settled on Oh She Glow’s blog, once again. I liked how simple her recipe was and that it included everything that I love! I made a few additions and changed it up a bit to make it similar to a pecan pie. I am so excited about how these turned out. Oh and one quick thing to mention about these bars, because they aren’t loaded with sugar, you could even have this as a breakfast bar. I cannot believe it is sugar-free, egg-free, dairy-free, gluten-free and it’s even raw! If someone rattled off all of those things to me, with the words “pecan pie” – I would likely laugh in their face. You have to trust me though, these are so amazing. Even my southern-boy pecan pie loving hubby liked him, though he took one bite and said “man, these are good, a big ‘ol scoop of vanilla ice cream over top would really make this.” haha some things will never ever change.

I tend to actually have cravings for sweets around this time of year, which is crazy since I really don’t crave sweets that often. I think it could be the fact that everywhere you look there are holiday cookies and sweets just laying out, begging to be eaten. I am trying really hard to stick with my usual way of eating through the holidays this year, so I don’t step on the scale after the holidays to find I put on 5-lbs. I am planning to make a handful of alternative holiday sweets over the next couple of weeks, so I can still partake in the festive eating, but in a healthy way. I am also making sure when and if I do partake in some not-so healthy holiday eating – that I remember that everything in moderation is OK, a taste here won’t kill me and I would much rather have a little and know when to stop then to feel like I am missing out on something I really want.

Do you try to eat healthy during the holidays or do you just forego all healthy eating rules during the holidays?

No Bake Pecan Pie Bars – Gluten-free, Raw and Vegan

Adapted from Oh She Glows
Makes 9 large squares or more if cut smaller

Crust:

1 1/2 cups whole raw almonds (you could also do 3/4 cup almonds and 3/4 cup shredded unsweetened coconut)
1 1/2 cups gluten-free rolled oats (if you aren’t gluten-free just use regular rolled oats)
1/2 tsp kosher salt
10 Medjool dates, pitted and roughly chopped (about 1 cup)
1/4 cup coconut oil
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Date and Pecan Topping:

25 Medjool dates, pitted and roughly chopped (about 2 1/2 cups)
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup roughly chopped raw pecans

Line an 8″ x 8″ pan with two pieces of parchment paper going opposite ways. In a food processor, process the almonds, salt, and oats until a fine crumble forms. Add in the chopped dates and process until crumbly again. It your coconut oil is solid, melt it quick and add to the mixture with vanilla and process until sticky and a bit doughy. If your dough seems a bit dry, you can add a bit more oil, mind was fine as is. Remove from processor and press the dough very firmly and evenly into the pan to form your crust.

Clean the food processor real quick and process the dates with water and vanilla until a thick paste forms, it should be mostly smooth and creamy. You will have to stop and scrape down the sides of the bowl often. You can add a tiny bit more water if needed, but you want the paste quite thick. Scoop out the date mixture onto the crust and gently spread with the back of a wet spatula until even.

Sprinkle the chopped pecans evenly across of it and gently press down with fingers. Refrigerate in the fridge until firm for at least 1 hour, preferably overnight. Cut into squares and serve. Store in the fridge or freezer.

Gingerbread Granola

We are back from our very short trip to Chicago, we got back late Monday night. It was a whirlwind of a trip, but it was super fun and totally successful on the business front. The holiday market was jammed packed with people and everyone was in such a festive holiday mood. I love that about this time of year.

When we are in Chicago we stay with good friends and it is so enjoyable and relaxing. We are so lucky to have so many amazing friends across the country that open their homes to us. It makes it feel like we took a trip to see and stay with family instead of the alternative of it feeling like the (somewhat) stressful work filled trip that it actually is. I really wish I had more time before we left for this trip to make cute little homemade gifts like this granola for our friends that we stayed with as a “thank you”. This granola would make a wonderful holiday gift for the cereal lover on your list and it would also be the perfect gift for the host or hostess that invites you by for a holiday party. This granola in a simple canning jar wrapped up with some sweet ribbon or twine with a little tag, it really doesn’t get any better. I wish I could also capture and bottle up the smell in the house after baking this and wrap that in a bow and give it to everyone I know. It was that good.

The only bad thing about coming home after traveling, is that the fridge is usually so empty when we return. I try to be smart and plan ahead so we don’t leave town with a ton of fresh produce or leftovers in the fridge, etc. But that also means that when we come home there is very little fresh food to eat and I need to find the time to get to the market. We are pretty busy with work right now, so I haven’t had the extra time to get groceries just yet, so we have been just making do with what we have on hand right now. I have been craving some holiday-inspired goodies, like crazy, so, I decided a fun and healthy way to get some holiday flavor in my life, is to make this gingerbread granola. It made the house smell amazing and it is a great breakfast and snack option. It would also be good sprinkled on top of greek yogurt or ice cream. I’ve been enjoying this granola for breakfast with a few glugs of almond milk or coconut milk (not the canned kind, the beverage kind from So Delicious).

I had blackstrap molasses on hand, so I used that, but feel free to use regular light or dark molasses if that is what you have. Since blackstrap molasses can have a bit of a bittersweet taste, I also added an additional 1/4 cup of coconut sugar. You could leave this off or substitute brown sugar or honey here if you are looking for a bit more sweetness, like I was. Blackstrap molasses is not only a healthier choice for a sweetener, it actually has some health benefits, which is a lot more than more sweeteners can say for themselves. Blackstrap molasses is high in iron and a variety of other minerals.

Is it bad that I want to wrap this granola up and give it to everyone on my list? It’s that good.

Do you plan to make homemade gifts food or otherwise for anyone on your list?

Gingerbread Granola

This made enough to fill two 1-quart canning jars

4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats (if you are gluten intolerant, be sure these are certified gluten-free oats. I use Bob’s Red Mill)
1/2 cup chia seeds (flax seeds would also be nice)
1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
3/4 cup walnuts, roughly chopped (or pecans, almonds, etc)
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 cup blackstrap molasses (light or dark molasses will also work)
1/4 cup coconut sugar (optional, you can also use brown sugar)
2 teaspoons vanilla

Preheat oven to 325ºF.
 Line large baking sheet with parchment paper. You can also use a roasting pan, which is nice since you can just mix all of the ingredients right in it, without losing things over the edge.
Combine all of your dry ingredients, oats, seeds, nuts, dried fruit etc., in a large bowl (or in your roasting pan). Add in your spices and salt. Mix well.
Pour the molasses and vanilla over the dry ingredients and stir until well coated. Let sit 5 to 10 minutes. Give the mixture a little taste and add the coconut sugar (or brown sugar) if it’s too bitter for you.

If you aren’t using a roasting pan, spread the granola on the baking sheet and bake for 30-40 minutes. Toss every 10 minutes or so to provide even toasting.

Let cool completely – it will get crispier as it cools. Keep in airtight container.

It’s The Most Wonderful Time…

Happy December everyone! I guess that title should really say – “It’s The Most Busy Time….”

Well as you may have guessed, the shortage of posts on here this week is due to the craziness of my life right now, once again. We are getting all geared up for the holidays both at home and with the business. I am a total holiday junkie, I love it all! I get insanely excited about the music and listen to it as much as possible, I wake up to it, I drive to and from yoga with it on the radio and I listen to it sporadically throughout my work day, at my desk! I cannot wait to really get into the thick of my gift shopping and we got the tree up this past Saturday after driving out to the country to cut it down. Last night I even took a break from all the work and I sewed some colorful felt bunting for our tree.

Honestly, if I had my choice, I would take the entire month of December off, not because I don’t enjoy my work, but more so I can just take it all in and savor every moment of the holiday magic. If I could, I would just go to yoga every morning and make Christmas gifts for everyone all afternoon listening to music and watching old Christmas movies and in the evening I would sit around in the dark with just the lights from the tree sparkling, drinking some delicious nog probably with a little rum in it, if I am being honest!

Speaking of nog, is anyone else as obsessed with So Delicious’ Coconut Milk Nog as I am? I cannot get over how amazing it is and I rarely get excited about things like this. Seriously, if you can find it, buy it and try it. It is only 90 calories per 1/2 cup and it is just as thick and delicious as the dairy version. I swear no one paid me to say this, I am just honestly obsessed with it. I wonder if I can make my own?

Anyhow, unfortunately for me, the month of December cannot all be Christmas songs, nog and crafting – our month is full of events, travel, lots of end of the year client work and tons and tons of shipping. SHIPPING!!! We just shipped off a huge order of our posters that we had with Urban Outfitters that was taking up every inch of our lives (yay – those will be in stores soon), plus 100 posters to Andrew Bird for his show in Minneapolis and we are shipping web orders from our site and etsy daily! I am certainly not complaining, I love it all and I am insanely grateful, but I am having to stay up late each night just so I can take in as much of the holiday spirit as I can, before it’s gone.

We are leaving bright and early tomorrow morning for Chicago for the Renegade Craft Holiday Sale, it runs Saturday and Sunday from 11am – 6pm. If you are in the Chicago area, you should come check it out, it’s an amazing event filled with hundred of vendors, all selling their handmade goods. It’s a wonderful way to support small independent businesses while buying unique holiday gifts. I get a ton of my own Christmas shopping done there with the other vendors, there is so much amazing stuff. The Hero booth is #65 on the first floor in gym #2. We will have a ton of posters and prints, greeting cards, pillows and more. Come see us!

Hopefully after we get home on Monday from Chicago, I will have a bit more time for cooking and baking. This week we were living off of our Thanksgiving turkey, I made an incredible gluten-free turkey pot pie and a creamy turkey, brown rice and sage soup. Sadly I will not be posting about either of these, as I did very little measuring so I have no clue how I would even write up the recipe and I made no time for photos. I guess I will just have to make them both again so I can share with you. Honestly though, the pot pie was so amazing I am definitely going to be making a vegetarian version with lots of yummy vegetables very soon, so keep an eye out for that. And also be on the lookout for some holiday cookie recipes when I get home and hopefully some other stuff, too. Hope everyone is enjoying the start of the holiday season and happy December to you all! See ya next week 🙂

Smashed Potato Puffs

I didn’t get a chance to get on here Thanksgiving Day to wish you all a Happy Day, like I had planned but I was cooking away in the kitchen and watching the parade, the dog show and football! I hope all of my American readers had an incredible day surrounded by people they love most and filled with delicious and tasty fresh foods made with so much love and care. If you aren’t in the US – I hope you have a beautiful Thursday, still!

Our day was perfect, I spent the day cooking in my kitchen and relaxing with hubby, we really needed a day like that, then we headed to my parents to see a ton of family for dessert. It is going to be an insane few weeks coming up so I was very happy to have the perfect balance of a quiet and calm day, with a bit of the usual holiday fare with the extended family.

Of course the best part of making a big feast for 2, is that we have a ton of leftovers. This is so perfect since we are leaving on Friday of this coming week to head to Chicago – so finding time to cook is probably going to be tough. Besides just reheating things, I plan to come up with all kinds of fun and creative ways to eat up the leftovers. This morning I saw a post on the Kitchn with this very topic – lots of great and delicious ways to eat up those leftovers! One of the hardest things to just simply reheat are the mashed potatoes, they are never as creamy and delicious as they are that night! You could certainly make a shepherd’s pie with them or potato pancakes of some sort, which I had planned on doing until I saw this post. The Kitchn had this delicious recipe for Mashed Potato Puffs that caught my eye instantly. Their puffs included ham and cheese, though this was a bit too rich for me after the two days of eating that I just had, so I skipped the cheese and ham and just added a small amount of turkey and some fresh chives from my garden. If you had a vegetarian Thanksgiving, these would still be equally as delicious without any meat at all. These adorable little puffs were super simple to put together and ready in 20 minutes. We had ours for breakfast and we put the leftovers in the fridge for either a side dish or another breakfast. They were puffy, had a slight crisp on the outside and were perfectly soft and creamy inside. I almost always make my mashed potatoes as garlic smashed potatoes, which I add a smidge of Nancy’s Organic Cultured Cream Cheese to for a little bit of creamy and tart flavor. I make my smashed potatoes with red potatoes, leaving the skins on – so my puffs were a bit more rustic and chunky than the original recipe, which I really liked. They can stick a bit when coming out of the muffin tin, at least they did for me, so make sure you grease your tin, even if it is non-stick. I personally didn’t care about that little bit of sticking – they were delicious regardless.

Well we’re off to the country to cut down our Christmas tree today and then to walk around beautiful Elicottville to really get even more into the Christmas mood! I cannot wait!

Tomorrow I plan to make a gluten-free turkey pot pie with some of the leftovers and I am going to cook down the bones to make a turkey stock for soup. What are you making with your leftovers?

Smashed Potato Puffs
makes between 12 and 24 puffs, depending the size of the pan used
Adapted from The Kitchn

2 cups leftover smashed (or mashed) potatoes
3 large farm fresh brown eggs, beaten
1/4 cup minced fresh chives
1/4 cup shredded leftover turkey (optional)
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

Heat the oven to 400°F and lightly grease the cups of a regular muffin tin or a mini-muffin tin.
Whisk together the smashed potatoes, eggs, chives, and turkey. Taste and season, if necessary, with salt and pepper.
Put a spoonful of the mixture in each muffin cup. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the potato cups are set, browned on top, and hot through and through. Serve immediately.

Raw Butternut Squash and Kale Salad

 

I was so excited to be participating in A Book of Yum’s Gluten-free Vegetarian Thanksgiving Event, that I of course couldn’t decide on just one recipe, so I made two! I wanted to re-imagine a classic side dish like stuffing, but I also really wanted to bring something completely new and unique to the table (pun intended). I came across a recipe in Edible Buffalo’s Fall 2011 issue a few weeks ago that I cut out and set aside, since it really intrigued me. It was a raw butternut squash salad – I had never thought about eating squash raw, but I honestly couldn’t wait to try it. In thinking about the recipe and really wanting there to be a rainbow of beautiful fall colors, I decided to change it up add some fresh local kale and dried cranberries instead of golden raisins. I also had some a fresh organic navel orange that I had zested earlier in the day to make another batch of my Chai concentrate and I thought the juice from that would be the perfect complement to all of the flavors going on in this salad.

This beautiful salad is crunchy, sweet and bright. It would be a welcome side dish at any Thanksgiving feast and it is a wonderfully unique option everyone, especially for those who are gluten-free, vegan and/or vegetarian. Plus, I personally love the idea of any Thanksgiving sides that aren’t heavy and carb loaded and more importantly, that don’t require the use of the oven that is always far too crowded on Thanksgiving.

 

Raw Butternut Squash and Kale Salad
Serves 4-6
Adapted from Edible Buffalo Magazine, Fall 2011 Issue

1 butternut squash (about 1 pound), peeled, seeded and grated by hand or with a food processor
1 cup kale, washed and stems removed, cut into very thin strips
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 tablespoon fresh orange juice
2 tablespoons fresh ginger, minced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Combine all ingredients, toss and adjust seasonings to taste. Refrigerate, covered, for an hour before serving.

Gluten-Free Mushroom Stuffing (Vegetarian)

When I found out I was going to be a part of Book of Yum’s Gluten-free Vegetarian Thanksgiving Event – I was so excited. This is the first time I have had the pleasure of participating in something like this, but I have wanted to ever since I started my blog a year and a half ago. This one felt like the perfect place for me. Although I am not exactly a traditional vegetarian, I consider myself to be a “conscientious omnivore”, meaning I only eat meat that I feel good about eating that comes from a local farmer where it is raised humanely, free to roam, eat pasture and not be filled with hormones or antibiotics.  We get all of our meat from Sojourner Farms in Olean, NY. This is the ONLY meat we ever have in our home and I feel like it is the right choice for us. We probably only eat meat anywhere from once a week to once a month at home, depending on what we have on hand and what we feel like. The rest of the time we eat completely vegetarian. I really love cooking vegetarian and find that eating a mostly vegetarian diet plus eating a small amount of local pasture-raised meat to have really changed my health immensely. I also feel like for me, it is a wonderful way for me to take a stand against the factory farming industry.

Sea, from Book of Yum, really wanted this event to not only make the transition into the first holiday season for newly diagnosed gluten-free folks to not seem so daunting, but to also highlight all of the wonderful options for those who are, or are cooking for those who are gluten-free and/or vegetarian (or vegan). Many of us find ourselves bringing our own food since many times the hosts are so terrified and paralyzed by what to cook, plus it alleviates the stress we have on wondering what we are even going to eat when we show up at someone else’s house. I love all of the wonderful recipes that have been featured so far, it’s such a great collection of classic dishes and new unique Thanksgiving options.

This year, like last, hubby and I are making the healthy and gluten-free Thanksgiving meal that we want and eating early in the day. After I get up and go to an early morning yoga class, while hubby takes our dog, Seri, to the park, we’ll spend the day cooking together, watching the parade and football and a enjoying a relaxing day at together at home without any work. After we are done eating, we will head over to my parent’s where they are having nearly 30 people for dinner (!) and we’ll join them for dessert, a cocktail or two and it will be the perfect way to have it all.

We took a nice long drive out to the country yesterday to pick up our Thanksgiving turkey from our farmer, Pierre, at Sojourner Farm in Olean. Since we will be having a turkey for our Thanksgiving dinner, I wanted to plan the rest of the meal without any meat. I was really excited to take on the challenge of making a meat free stuffing this year. So making it ahead of time for Book of Yum’s event was even more exciting since it was a test run of this recipe, for me. In the past I have sought out some type of healthy sausage to make my mom’s famous stuffing recipe that I had to have, but it always feels so redundant and unnecessary to have a side dish with meat in it, alongside the turkey. I really don’t need or want that much meat in one meal.

I decided on making mushrooms the stars of the stuffing this year. This delicious side dish is so full of rustic and earthy flavor, the mushrooms have a nice chewiness to them and the beautiful fresh thyme pulled it all together so nicely. Additionally, as you can see by the above photos, I also decided to experiment with making little individual stuffing “muffins”, if you will. I dreamt this up as a way to make sure that everyone gets lots of the crispy goodness that makes stuffing so darn delicious. Come on, admit it, you’ve gotten into with a family member on Thanksgiving over who get’s the edges. In our house, my hubby usually gets the crispy edges on anything that has them, by default. If you don’t care about the crispies (as my husband calls it) or don’t want to mess with a muffin tin, this will perfectly fit into a 9″ x 13″ baking pan. I ended up having a little bit leftover after filling the 12 muffin cups, that I put into a very small glass casserole dish. I didn’t want to call this recipe “Stuffing Muffins”, as I feared it would turn people off, since it does sound pretty disgusting, really. Even if you don’t try the stuffing “muffin” approach for this Thanksgiving, you have to try it soon, it is so worth it and I honestly cannot believe I didn’t think of it sooner.

This stuffing does have two eggs in it, so if you are vegan you could experiment with an egg replacer such as Ener-G or making your own flax-seed egg replacer (To replace one egg: 1 tablespoon ground flaxseeds plus 3 tablespoons hot water. Stir together until thick and gelatinous.) I have never made my stuffing vegan, but I am sure it would work perfectly. Please let me know if you try it out. Additionally, you will obviously have to make sure the bread you use is vegan.

Besides being very excited about how this recipe turned out, I am also very excited that I get to have stuffing twice in a week’s time, that isn’t a bad deal at all. Stuffing is one of my favorite things about Thanksgiving dinner, I don’t think I have it any other time during the year, so it always feels so special. Between that and the mashed potatoes, those are two things that will NEVER be missing from my Thanksgiving menu. For my husband, Mark, I always have to make him a single-serving of his Momo’s famous sweet potato casserole, complete with an ungodly amount of butter, brown sugar and yes, it is even topped with marshmallows. It’s not for me, but I can totally appreciate how it won’t be Thanksgiving for Mark without it, so I will always make it for him.

What dish will always be a part of your Thanksgiving dinner?

Gluten-Free Mushroom Stuffing (Vegetarian)
serves 6-8

1 loaf of gluten-free bread, dried and roughly torn into small pieces (I used a loaf of Rudi’s all natural gluten-free multigrain bread, you can use your favorite bread)
1 – 1 1/2 cups mushroom broth, vegetable broth or water
1 medium onion, finely chopped or grated
2 stalks celery, finely chopped
8 ounces fresh cremini mushrooms, roughly chopped
1 cup wild mushrooms, fresh or reconstituted from dried, roughly chopped
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh thyme, finely chopped
1 tablespoon fresh Italian parsley, roughly chopped
2 large farm fresh brown eggs
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Crumble or tear the dried bread into small pieces and place into a 9″ x 13″ glass baking pan. Wet the bread with enough broth or water so it starts to get soft, but you don’t want it insanely soggy, either. If you add too much liquid, just pour it out. Mix with eggs, mushrooms, onions, celery, herbs, olive oil and salt and pepper. Don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty, roll your sleeves up and just get your hands in there to mix it all up, it’s the only way to do it. Once everything is evenly mixed in you can either leave it in the baking pan and bake it as is or start scooping with your hands, an ice cream scoop or a large spoon into a greased non-stick muffin pan. (I greased mine with a very small amount of vegetable shortening). If it doesn’t all fit into the muffin pan, scoop the remainder into a small glass casserole dish.

Place the glass pan or the muffin tin into the oven and bake for 45 minutes to an hour until the top(s) are browned and crispy. Let the stuffing “muffins” cool slightly before attempting to pop them out of the muffin tin and don’t worry if they don’t come out like a perfect muffin shape, most of mine didn’t, some even fell apart a little. Don’t worry, it’s stuffing, its rustic and it isn’t about the shape and look of them, it is all about the crispies!

Enjoy.

NOTE: since I didn’t want to dry my bread overnight or for a day or so, I placed the sliced loaf in a single layer on a baking pan in the oven at 200º for about an hour to dry it out.

Butternut Squash Enchiladas with Tomatillo Sauce

Having a creative job means that sometimes you just can’t work. I know that sounds like an excuse, but when you are supposed to be creating something and you just don’t have any ideas, it’s quite hard to “work”. I am very lucky that we now work from home, so some days when that “creative block” happens – if I can’t find some silly administrative task like updating our webstore, shooting photos of new products or responding to emails, I can just walk away from my computer and get into any number of different things that are completely unrelated to work, like taking the dog for a walk, heading to a yoga class, watching TV, reading a book or magazine and my most favorite distraction from work… cooking! This week I have been feeling a bit stressed and the ideas just haven’t been flowing as freely. It has been a bit frustrating to say the least. We have a ton of work on the books right now, so it is no time to screw around or to just stare at a blank sketch pad. Wednesday, I decided rather than sitting at my desk with my sketchpad, that I would make our dinner early, so we could enjoy it for lunch and I could take photos when it was freshly cooked instead of trying to shoot them without daylight or shooting the leftovers the next day!

So, I got up at my usual 7am and started prepping the squash and the tomatillos for the sauce. Then I went upstairs for a few hours, it was the perfect boost that I needed and I started working on a poster design that I was stuck on and I made some major headway! It felt great. When lunchtime came, I scooted downstairs, preheated the oven, heated up the sauce and started assembling the enchiladas. I popped them in the oven and went back upstairs to work for a bit. When the buzzer rang, I ran down, took some photos and served my husband and our assistant the best lunch we’ve had since we moved the business home. It was actually really fun to eat a bigger meal in the middle of the day. It felt like the right time to eat that way.

These enchiladas, besides being a burst of beautiful colors, are so full of delicious and bright flavors. The squash has a bit of a rustic nuttiness, the tomatillo has a bright almost citrus flavor to it, with a little bit of heat from the lemon drop peppers I added. I thought about adding black beans inside of the enchiladas, but ended up deciding against it since I thought they would just be bursting open. I think even though it would taste incredible, it would be too many things inside with the big hunks of squash. But I will likely make them that way at some point. I used a simple traditional Mexican crumbly white cheese called queso fresca, it was the perfect compliment and didn’t make the dish too heavy and gooey cheesy, which can be a bit too much for me, sometimes. They were delicious topped with a fresh squeeze of lime juice, fresh green onions and cilantro and a little dollop of organic low-fat sour cream. If you are vegan, you could definitely leave out the cheese or substitute Daiya for the queso fresco. Or if you can’t find queso fresco, you could go with a small amount of good quality sharp cheddar cheese.

I have made homemade tortillas in the past when making enchiladas and it is most definitely worth it, but since I didn’t really have an unlimited amount of time to make these, I decided to go with a high quality corn tortilla from the store. The key to making enchiladas keep their shape, is to steam the tortillas first, otherwise they will break apart a bit. I know this and I steamed mine, but I think they should have been steamed a bit more, some definitely fell apart just a tad when I rolled them up. I decided to just go with it, since I knew it would all taste the same, but some would just fall apart when I served them. Of course, the two that I decided to take a photo of did just that when I served them, but I kinda liked how rustic they looked and I love how you could see the color from the squash exploding out. So I said, screw perfection and just went with it! Life isn’t perfect, I’m not perfect and my enchiladas aren’t perfect – and I am OK with ALL of it! I embrace it.

Yesterday afternoon I had another one of those moments where I hit a creative road-block, for some reason this one hit me harder than ever. I actually felt sad over it and I let it beat me, a bit. I was working on a project that is seemingly very simple and should have an easy solution, but I was struggling. It broke me! I cried. I decided to take a step away “virtually” and move over to another project and then to editing the photos for this post. It definitely helped and today I am looking at it again with fresh eyes and I am ready to tackle it again. So I wanna hear from you….

What do you do when you hit a creative roadblock?
Do you find cooking and baking to be a good escape from everyday life and your work or does it stress you out too much?
I’d love to hear your thoughts on how you get through when you are feeling stumped with a problem, creatively or otherwise. Share away!

Butternut Squash Enchiladas with Tomatillo Sauce
serves 6

Tomatillo Sauce
1 1/2 pounds of fresh whole tomatillos, husked and rinsed
2 hot chiles of your choice, stems removed (I used dried lemon drop peppers from my garden) – you can skip this or just use one if you want it less spicy
enough water to cover the tomatillos
3 whole cloves garlic, peeled
1 handful of fresh cilantro (about 1/4 cup)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Add your tomatillos and chiles to a large saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil over a medium-high heat, then reduce the heat and allow to simmer for approximately 5-7 minutes until the tomatillos are soft but still whole. If they aren’t all totally soft, no worries, still remove them from the heat and drain. Add the tomatillos and chiles to a food processor and add 2 cloves of garlic, fresh cilantro and salt, puree all the ingredients together and set the sauce aside.

Butternut Squash Enchiladas

1 – 2lb butternut squash, peeled, seeded and diced into 1-inch cubes
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 yellow onion, diced
1 large garlic clove, minced
6-8 ounces queso fresco, crumbled (you can skip the cheese or use Daiya to make this vegan) – reserve approximately 1/4 cup for the topping
12 corn tortillas

fresh lime wedges
fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
fresh green onions, thinly sliced
organic sour cream

Preheat the oven to 400º, place the squash cubes on a rimmed baking sheet toss with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and place into the oven to roast for 30-40 minutes until tender and lightly browned. Set aside when done.

While the squash is baking, add the onion, garlic, red bell pepper and a dash of salt to the teaspoon of olive oil in a medium pan over a medium-high heat, sauté. Cook for 5-8 minutes until the onion is translucent and both the onion and pepper are tender. Remove the vegetables from the pan and set aside in a bowl.

Use the same pan from the onion and pepper mixture to heat up your tomatillo sauce. Bring it to a simmer over a medium-heat and allow it to heat through and slightly thicken. Just about 5 minutes.

Once the squash is done, you are ready to start assembling your enchiladas.

Start by spooning a small amount of the tomatillo sauce into the bottom of a 9 x 13 inch baking dish (I used an 8.5 x 11 pan and it was a bit crowded, but it worked) – just enough to cover the bottom with a very thin layer.

You will need to steam the corn tortillas so that they don’t break when rolled. Moisten two paper towels, working in batches of 3 or 4 tortillas at a time, wrap the tortillas in the damp paper towels and microwave them for approximately 30-45 seconds. Once microwaved, dip each tortilla into the tomatillo sauce, one at a time, making sure both sides get coated in the sauce. Scoop a small amount of butternut squash cubes (probably about 2 tablespoons), the onion and pepper mixture and cheese, keeping in mind how much to use so that you can roll the enchiladas shut and also so you have enough to fill 11 more. Place the enchilada, seam side down, in the baking dish. Repeat until you’ve made as many enchiladas as you want or have filling for (this recipe made 12, with a small amount of squash and pepper mixture leftover).

Spoon the remaining tomatillo sauce overtop all of the enchiladas and top with the remaining 1/4 cup of queso fresco.

Place the pan in the oven and bake for 30-40 minutes until the cheese is slightly melted, golden brown and everything is bubbling. Pull it out of the oven, sprinkle a bit of fresh cilantro on top to make it even prettier and allow it to cool for 5 minutes. Serve your enchiladas warm with fresh cilantro, fresh green onions and a squeeze of fresh lime juice, you can also add a dollop of organic sour cream, if you wish.

Tortilla Soup

I have been making this soup for years and have shared my recipe with so many people, I was shocked that I hadn’t yet posted in on here. It is one of my favorite soups, it is so simple to make and it’s loaded with so many of my favorite flavors. You could probably easily make it with vegetable broth and just double up on the vegetables and it would still be delicious. I always find this is a great way to use one of the whole chickens we get from the farm since it really makes the soup the best and the more chicken in the soup, the better it is, in my opinion.

Also, if you don’t feel like making the broth from scratch, you can use a good quality organic low sodium chicken broth or stock and pick up a quality simply spiced rotisserie chicken from the market. Just remove any fat and skin from the chicken, take the meat off the bones and shred or dice it, adding it to the soup near the end. It’s that simple.

You could certainly make your own corn tortillas from scratch for the tortilla strips, which I do most times and it is super simple, or you could just buy a package of good quality corn tortillas from the grocery store or a local Mexican market.

The fun thing about this soup, as with many, is the measurements of your ingredients can be really loose and to taste to your preferences. I almost NEVER measure when making a soup like this, I just taste it along the way and add more of things as I see fit, so definitely keep that in mind when making this for yourself. Use my measurements as a guide, but please taste along the way. If you don’t like super spicy, you can leave out the jalapeños, but I would really suggest keeping in the chipotles when making the stock and definitely in the soup, that smokey flavor really makes this soup what it is, in my opinion. If you can’t find dried chipotles, you can use the canned ones in adobo sauce and if you are worried about the spiciness, just skip adding a chipotle pepper all together and simply add a tablespoon of the adobo sauce.

You can also have fun with the toppings on this soup, besides the necessary tortilla strips, I usually like a good squeeze of lime juice, a little cubed avocado, some fresh cilantro and green onions. It’s also good with a little sprinkle of shredded sharp cheddar and if you like sour cream, it is good with a little dollop of that, too.

As usual, when I make this for the two of us, I make the full amount and we just live off of it for a week, it’s great for lunches or on those nights when I am too busy to cook. This time of year, I almost always have some type of soup or stew in the fridge that I made a couple of days prior, it is a must for me in the cooler weather.

Tortilla Soup
Serves 8-10

Chicken Stock
(this soup tastes the best with homemade stock, but if you are in a rush, you can still make it delicious by using boxed organic low sodium chicken broth and adding in the meat from an already cooked rotisserie chicken you bought from the store)

2-3 quarts water
1 whole organic chicken, about 4lbs (rinsed and giblets removed for the dog)
1 whole red onion, peeled and quartered
2 dried chipotles, halved
2 garlic cloves
1 bell pepper, seeded and quartered

In a large stockpot, (use the strainer that fits in your stock pot if you have one) combine all of the ingredients making sure to use enough water to cover your chicken and bring to a gentle boil over a high heat. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for 2 1/2 hours, adding more water if necessary to keep the chicken and vegetables covered. Skim the surface occasionally to remove any foam or impurities that forms on the surface. The longer you cook the stock, the stronger the flavor will be, but 2 1/2 hours was more than adequate and the stock had a fantastic flavor to it.

Remove the meat and bones and reserve any meat on the bones that can be separated and added back to the soup. If you didn’t use the strainer in the pot when making the stock, strain the stock to remove all the vegetables and other bits and add the broth back to the pot. Throw out the bones and vegetables. Use the stock immediately or let the stock cool completely, and refrigerate overnight. Skim any fat that forms on the surface. Keep refrigerated in airtight containers until ready to use, up to 3 days, or freeze for up to 2 months. Since I was using the stock immediately, I skimmed any visible fat off the top, made sure that it was strained of everything, and kept it on a low heat while I prepped everything for the soup. You will probably end up with about 48-64 ounces of stock when making it homemade (give or take). Use all of it for the tortilla soup.

Tortilla Soup

6 to 8 cups of low sodium organic chicken broth or stock (I make my stock from scratch with one of our whole chickens from the farm, see above)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large white onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 dry chipotles, roughly chopped
2 to 3 bell peppers (you can use any combo you like, red, yellow, green, whatever), diced
1 (or 2) jalapeños, minced (optional, depending on how much spice you like, you’ll get a little from the chipotle)
2 teaspoons sea salt plus more to taste
2 teaspoons ground chili powder or to taste (you can add more as it cooks)
1 teaspoon ground cumin or to taste (you can add more as it cooks)
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander or to taste (you can add more as it cooks)
1 large can of organic diced tomatoes
The meat from the chicken you made your stock from or the meat from 1 small pre-cooked rotisserie chicken or 2 chicken breasts, already cooked – skin and fat removed, shredded or diced
1 or 2 limes

For Topping:
8 or more corn tortillas, cut into thin strips
lime wedges
fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
fresh green onions, thinly sliced
avocado
sour cream
shredded cheddar

Saute onion, garlic and all your peppers with the olive oil. Cook till slightly soft, but I like to leave a little bit of the crunch there. Add chili powder, cumin and salt, stir. Add broth and canned tomatoes and bring to boil. If you made your stock from scratch and its already in a large pot, just cook up the vegetables in a pan and add to the broth. Bring to a simmer and continue to add seasonings to taste, depending on how spicy you like it. Cook for about 20-30 mins or so to really allow all of the flavors to come together.

Meanwhile, slice 8 or more corn tortillas into thin strips, put on a cookie sheet, drizzle with 1 teaspoon or so of olive oil and lightly salt. Bake at 375 degrees until desired crispiness. (about 10-15 mins) Put aside.

Dice and shred the chicken and add to the soup, simmer until chicken is heated through. Add a few bunches of cilantro and the juice of one to two limes stir and serve.

Serve soup topped with tortilla strips, diced avocado, fresh cilantro, green onions and a few squeezes of lime. You can also top with shredded cheddar, hot sauce, sour cream or whatever else you might like.