3 roasted root pasta (aka salty pasta)

it gets salty. I'm just saying.
first i roasted some root vegetables.
I used
1 beet
1 parsnip
1 carrot
cut into about 1 inch chunks. i put them in bowl and coated them with about 1 tablespoon of oil, pinch of salt, pepper, and garlic powder. After they were coated i put them on a baking sheet into a 425 degree oven.
after 8 minutes i turned everything over
after 8 more minutes I take the parsnip and carrot off the baking sheet and then I put the beet back in a baked until it was done. I think it took maybe 10 or 15 more minutes.
MEANWHILE
I cooked up about 5 strips of fake bacon until it was nothing but crisp. (stiff)
I did this by putting oil in my cast iron and putting bacon in until it was no longer soft. it couldn't move without cracking.
MEANWHILE
I sauted 1/2 on onion.
I cut up about 6 kalamata olives, about a jars worth of artichoke hearts, and about 8 sundried tomatoes (i just get a combo thing of them at the Mediterranean bar at kroger). I also cut up about 1 leaf of collards so I could have some leafy green. After the onions were cooked I added all this into the onion pan with about 1/4 cup grated parm. cheese. I added the roots.
I cooked brown rice spiral noodles.

Resist, then give in

I had to resist all caffe ine for a little while since my acid reflux became constant and uncontrollable, and since my sugar is mostly in my beverages, I also had less sugar. Then, when I got my medication I gave in. Thats been going on since. So now its back to the resist side. I am going for a one sugar and caffeine drink a day (total is one drink). I just read this thing about controlling your blood sugar for keeping alert. Which I and everyone knows, but I still have to give in and my sugar intake has really increased a lot so I have been pretty anxious which causes compulsive talking, and thats never good. Resisting is fun, too.

I have been really successful this week thinking about how to divide my recipes into categories. First, I think of the base, which is the pasta, or rice, or tortilla. etc.

Then the protein

Then the vegetables

Then the spices
Then the sauce.

The cooking method (baked, loose, fried, grilled, boiled)

The recipe practically writes itself. I was successful in this with a pasta dish I made the other night. Here is what I did:

cook 1 box of whole wheat penne until its still kind of hard, cause we are baking this in sauce

I made a sauce out of about 1/2 cup of heavy cream, 1 cup of rice milk, and almost all of a wedge of fontina cheese. maybe over a cup. I made this in a large pot, because I am adding everything to it. I cooked an onion in this pan before I added the milk and cheese, and also added about 2 tablespoons of butter. Then I added the vegetables. I added mushrooms that were quartered, some spicy greens that were called kale but I have my doubts, and broccoli. For my protein I added some tofurky cut into cubes and some green peas. for the spices I did spicy-ish since its a white sauce. black pepper, paprkia, and red pepper flakes. I put all of this in my thickened sauce and added the noodles. Then I put it in a 350 degree oven until it was cooked. about 20 minutes. it was pretty good.

good biscuits with a buttermilk substitution

This biscuit recipe is way better than my older one.

It comes from the Better Homes and Gardens 14th edition cookbook, which is awesome, by the way.

What was the most useful about this cookbook is it explained how to substitute buttermilk and get the same results. apparently buttermilk is acidic, and in recipes with buttermilk there is also baking soda, and when those acid and baking soda collide there is that volcano action from our science project youth. so to subsitute you want to put one tablespoon of acidic liquid like lemon juice or vinegar into a glass measuring cup or a one cup measuring cup. then add enough milk to make one cup total. (not a cup and tablespoon, but a cup of combined liquid total). Rice milk works fine, thats what I use. let sit for 5 minutes.

3 cups all purpose flour (but I do half and half all purpose and half whole wheat successfully)

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon cream of tartar (just give up substitution and buy it)

3/4 cup cold butter (I found out you want it cold, cause I used to melt it and add it, so that when the butter melts in the dough while cooking it releases steam causing the flaky layers)

1 and 1/4 cups sour milk

this is a wet dough by the way

Preheat oven to 450 deg.

combine dry ingredients. (1-5)

cut up butter and add into dough. you can use a pastry blender, or two knives I have heard you can use, I rub it in with my fingers until its all flour/butter granuals.

make a well in center and add milk

stir until moistened. its pretty wet.

flour your board and kneed it a few times and pat it out until its about 3/4 inch thick (I guess) and cut out biscuits with a cutter or in my case a cup rim. cook for 10-14 minutes.

This recipe should cook about 12 biscuits. I always cut it in half.

some things I have found out or heard:

don't kneed them too much or they get ruined. I don't know the consequences, and I also don't know how much is too much. I've heard that from multiple sources.

secondly don't oil your baking sheet. I have done this. my bottoms cooked way faster, I think.

The recipe says not to do this, but I was scared of them sticking so I did it anyway. you don't need to.

Lebanese garbanzos

this calls for fava beans, but every time I buy them and cook them they smell a little funny and never get fully soft, so I just use chick peas and everything works out fine. So use what you want.

2 cups beans (I just use a can of chickpeas) can also be fava or broad beans

2 garlic cloves crushed and finely chopped

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup lemon juice

1/4 cup oil

1/2 cup cut up parsley

green onion

in bowl combine everything after beans are cooked. I like my beans to still be hot, though.

energy bars

we can't eat the store granola bars cause of the nuts, but this works

1 cup rolled oats (I don't use instant, but the recipe says you can)

1/2 cup pumpkin seeds (use what you want)

1/2 cup wheat germ

1/4 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup dried fruit + 1/2 cup raisins

1/2 cup dry milk

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (but who are we kidding, I love cinnamon, I probably use like a tablespoon)

1/3 cup maple syrup (unless I have it for a special occasion, I use honey here. It works not as well in taste, but fine in consistency after which I have heated to make runny).

2 eggs

preheat oven to 350 deg.

coan 9X13 pan

put everything but syrup and eggs in blender (of course I use the magic bullet, and do this in batches)

after you get it out of blender then add syrup and eggs.

put into pan and coat bottom evenly.

cook until brown. it says 20 minutes, but mine cooked way faster than that, so check it after 10.

cool for 15 minutes.

sweet potato pancakes

1 pound sweet potato

3 scallions

2 large eggs beaten

1/2 cup all purpose flour

salt and pepper

oil

grate potatoes

put in bowl with the rest of the ingredients and mix together

I used a cast iron skillet and heated up the oil and used a 1/4 cup measuring cup to measure out and fry. make sure you really flatten them out after you put them on the skillet. 4-5 minutes per side, or you know, until they are brown.

the problem I always have with stuff like this is that some are out while others are frying, which always leads the the first ones being a little greasy (in my opinion). I kept them warm in the oven after they drained on some paper towels for a little while, but still, I wish I could fry everything up at the same time.

millet salad mexicano (but I used quinoa)

I have used both quinoa and millet in this recipe and both are good.

1 cup millet

2 cups water

salt

kernels from six ears of corn (I did about 1/2 cup of frozen)

2 ripe avacados

2 tablespoons green onion

4 chopped tomato

(although the recipe didn't call for it I added carrots and celery and put it all on top of greens instead of just the grain being the base, and it worked fine)

dressing

combine:

1/2 cup of lime juice (I used lemons both times, except this last time I combined lemons and lime juice, and it worked fine both times)

1/4 cup oil

1 tablespoon cumin (I cut this in half, don't LOVE the cumin)

1/4 cilantro

So if your doing millet roast grains for 5-7 minutes. then combine millet and water to boil, adding salt, for 30 minutes.

if your doing quinoa I just followed the directions on its box.

put on baking sheet to cool.

put down greens and add grain, then the rest of the salad ingredients. pour dressing on top. sooooo good