A few extra recipes .....

Confession time!!! I have been hording recipes. Shameful, I know. My original plan was to only post recipes I have actually tried, but I am being ask to post more choices. So while I wait for the F1 race to start, I will add a few bonus recipes just for fun.

From The Food Network and Giada De Laurentis:

Whole Wheat Pasta with Swiss Chard

1 tablespoon olive oil
2 onions thinly sliced
2 bunches of swiss chard, trimmed and chopped about 14 cups
3 garlic cloves minced
1 can diced tomatoes with juices
1/4 cup dry white wine
1/4 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
salt and pepper
8 ounces whole wheat spaghetti
1/4 cup pitted kalamata olives, chopped coarse
2 tablespoons toasted pine nuts
2 tablespoons grated pecorino cheese

Heat oil in a heavy skillet over medium heat. add onions and saute until tender about 8 minutes. add teh chard and saute until it wilts, about 2 minutes. add the garlic and saute 1 minute. Stir in tomatoes with juice, wine and red pepper flakes, bring to a simmer. Cover and simmer until tomatoes begin to break down and the chard is very tender about 5 minutes. season with salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, Cook spaghetti according to package directions. Drain the pasta and add to the chard mixture and toss to combine. Sprinkle with olives, cheese and pine nuts.


From Cook with Jamie by Jamie Oliver

Savory Cabbage with Worcestershire sauce

1 large savory cabbage
olive oil
1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce
sea salt and fresh ground black pepper
2 knobs of butter

Remove and wash the outer green leaves of cabbage, then roll them up like a cigar and finely slice them. Put a large frying pan on a high heat and add a good glug of olive oil. Add the sliced cabbage to the pan and move it around giving it a good shake. Cook for about 4 minutes. Halve the rest of the cabbage and core it. finely slice the rest of the cabbage. Add to the pan and cook for another minute. then add the Worcestershire sauce and some salt and pepper. Keep the cabbage moving so it will coat nicely and cook another 4 minutes. Be sure to keep an eye on it so it does not stick to the bottom of the pan. Remove from the heat and add the butter.

Organic Cupboard Basics

I have been working with Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution Cookbook. I highly recommend the book to anyone. On Jamie's site he offers very good tips that will help you get cooking fast. One of the things I found helpful is a Cupboard basics list. Click here for the list

In an effort to use NON-GMO or Organic food staples. I took a copy of the list to my local Peachtree Natural Foods to see just how available some of these basics really are in organic form. I chose the Airport Thru Way Store in the Landings. I was surprised how many of the items they actually stock and did not "have to order to get". The Store Manager, Jamie, was extremely helpful to me and very interested in helping me toward my goal of better health.

Here is what they have already in stock. Dijon Mustard, English Mustard, Olive Oil, All Purpose Flour, Cornstarch, Dried Pasta, Baking Powder, Soy Sauce, Five Spice Blend, Sea Salt, Black Peppercorns, Whole Grain Mustard, EVOO, Sesame Oil, Bread Flour, Whole Wheat Flour, Baking Powder, Unsweet Cocoa Powder (also RAW), Canned tuna, Coconut milk, Basamati Rice, Brown Rice, Oatmeal, Honey (also RAW), Maple Syrup, Mixed Nuts, Almonds, Mixed Seeds, Broth, Ketchup, and Vegan Mayonnaise Called Vegannaise.

Tell them I sent you.

CSA Week Two: We Have It in our Fridge Stir Fry

I was challenged to make a stir fry recipe using some of our CSA Veg. Okay, moment of truth. PJ does not stir fry but Dave does. Poor Guy! He agreed to try with out complaint. Here is what Dave did:

This was all splashed with rice wine vinegar:
1/2 of a Kohlrabi julianned,
1 small radish chopped.
2 bunches of the bok choy, leaves and stems chopped
half of a bunch of Kale, stems removed and chopped
half of a bunch of Chard, stems removed and chopped
one bunch of green onions, chopped with tops
2 cups of frozen California Blend we had in the freezer

One big chicken breast cut and seasoned with Bragg's Liquid Amino's and Bragg's 25 Season Blend

Cooked Rice of your choice.

Heat oil in your wok. When the oil is hot, add chicken and brown. Add Kale and Chard, let wilt. Add everything else and cook 10 more minutes. Add more Soy Sauce or Liquid Amino's to taste. (right now it smells wonderful and my tummy is growling.)

Serve rice with Veg on top.

Bragg's Site
I purchased the Bragg's at Peachtree Natural Foods

Stephanie Howell Class

I took a class from Stephanie Howell at the Scrapbook Shoppe. I was very excited about taking this class. I started teaching classes at the beginning of the year. I had never taught anything but a Creative Memories beginner's class. I have been trudging along, learning from making mistakes and watching the other teachers.

So to take a class from someone who actually teaching classes for a living, I was extremely excited. Stephanie was very relaxed and encouraging to me. I felt a little out of place sitting in the room as a student, but I learned a lot. I would love to have Stephanie's job. At least now I know what I need to do next. Thanks Stephanie.

If you would like to learn more about Stephanie here is a link to her blog.

Stephanie Howell's blog

Here are my versions of her pages!

CSA Week Two: Broccoli Rabe

Finally enough broccoli rabe to make this recipe. Let me say this. IT WAS EASY. Way easy. Especially YUMMY. Now this was spicy. If you are not into spicy, then you may want to reduce or leave out the red pepper flakes.

Broccoli Rabe and Garlic Pasta

12 oz uncooked whole week linguine
1 lb broccoli rabe
3 garlic cloves minced
2 tblspns olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 cup chicken broth ( I used vegetable broth)
1/4 cup parsley
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

Cook linguine according to package directions. Meanwhile trim 1/4 inch from the broccoli rabe stems, discard coarse outer leaves. Rinse broccoli rabe in cold water and cut into 2 inch pieces; set aside. In a large skillet saute garlic in oil for 1 minute. Add the broccoli rabe, salt, pepper and pepper flakes and 1/2 cup of the broth. Bring to a boil.

Reduce heat cover and cook for 3-5 minutes or until broccoli rabe is tender. Drain linguine, add to the pan. stir in parsley and enough of the broth to moisten linguine. Sprinkle with Cheese.

All Occasion Cards

My next card class for the Scrapbook Shoppe. All Occasion cards. June 12, 2010 at 10:30 am.

CSA Week Two: Flashback Kale and Kohlrabi

After a LONG LONG day. I am watching Doctor Who on BBC America and feeling the need to post out this recipe. First I would like to thank the CSA members for my glowing welcome today. I arrived early, hoping to pick up my share a bit early since I had to teach a class and attend a class at the Scrapbook Shoppe today. Not only was I welcomed but I appreciate all the help packing my bags! So wonderful.

Here is a recipe for Crispy Sauteed Kale with Kohlrabi from Planet Green.

1 1/4 pound kohlrabi bulbs peeled
1/2 teaspoon grated lime zest
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil divided
2 pounds Kale stem and center ribs detached
5 garlic cloves finely chopped
1/3 cup salted roasted pistachios, chopped

Slice Kohlrabi very thinly using a slicer or knife

Whisk together lime zest and juice, 2 tablespoons oil and 1/2 teaspoon each of salt and pepper in a large bowl. Toss Kohlrabi with dressing

Chop kale finely. Heat remaining two tablespoons oil in 12 inch skillet over medium high heat until it shimmers. Saute garlic until pale golden, about 30 seconds. Add kale by the handful, turning and stirring with tongs and adding more kale as the volume in skillet reduces. When all of kale is wilted, saute with 1/2 teaspoon salt until tender about 3 minutes. Transfer to bowl and cool to room temperature. Toss Kale with Kohlrabi and pistachios

CSA Week One - Strawberries and Leftovers

Tonight was left over night at my house. I have been working on the grand opening of a new store for my company. Since there are only two humans at my house and we have been cooking a lot, our cooler was getting a bit full. Dave and I both have been eating leftovers for lunch. SO we finished off the dreaded leftovers off tonight. However. Dave has been laying in wait for his strawberries to get just right for his favorite dessert. Dave sliced the strawberries and sprinkled them with 1 tablespoon of sugar. They have been macerating in the fridge. I baked an organic vanilla cake from Doctor Oetker's. Dave cut the cake and topped it with his strawberries. I don't really like strawberries so I used blue berries. YUM YUM!




on a side note: David made a smoked sausage Stonehenge as pictured below:

CSA Week One - Turnips

Funny how this day's vegetable is turnips but the hold up and the issues have been with butternut squash. After working all day and an hour at the gym, I come home ready to help Dave w/the Butternut squash cutting issue. While he is cutting and peeling the squash and the turnips, I am getting everything else ready. I am reading my recipe from "The Joy of Cooking" by Irma S. Rombauer when I see "cooking time 1 1/2 hours. It was already 7:15 PM and there was no way I could wait another hour and a half for some food. Well I always have a back up plan: whole wheat pasta and homemade sauce. What we decided to do was to go ahead and cook the turnips and squash and then save it for Wednesdays dinner. We ate our pasta while the house smells wonderful of the squash and turnips. So..finally a real recipe for you.

Oven Roasted Turnips with Squash and Shallots
Preheat oven to 375F Place in a 13x9 baking pan and toss together: 2 pounds peeled and chopped turnips, 1 small butternut squash peeled and chopped, 12 small shallots-peeled, 3 tablespoons olive oil, 1 tablespoon melted butter, 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, 1/4 teaspoon salt, ground black pepper to taste. Roast, stirring occasionally until the vegetables are fork tender about 1 1/2 hours. Season with salt, pepper and parsley to taste. 6 servings.

**note** after 40 minutes, my veg was fork tender.

CSA Week One - Field Lettuce/Romaine Lettuce

Okay. Today I was going to cook my turnips with some butternut squash until I got home and realized that my knife skills are not good enough to handle that butternut squash. So...Instead...I had planned on have a "Salad Night" with all of those lovely field greens we received and the rest of the romaine lettuce we had from the BLT's. Tomorrow Dave will handle the deadly squash. So... My Salad Night special contained the romaine lettuce (leaves cut from the ribs) and enough of the field greens to make a nice big salad. I added cucumber, carrot, tomato, celery and green onions. I added to my salad some colby jack cheese and some green olives. I don't use dressing. The salad was delish. Dave added crackers, blue cheese, and lite Catalina dressing.

There is enough left over for my lunch tomorrow. YUM YUM.

CSA Week One - Bok Choy

For dinner Dave made his version of stir fry. The bonus item was our CSA Bok Choy. He washed the Bok Choy. Cut the leaves off the stalks. Then he chopped the stalks. He rolled the leaves and chopped them. After cooking the chicken and the normal stir fry veg, he splashed some soy sauce on the bok choy stalks and then added them to the wok. After 5 minutes, he added the leaves splashed with rice wine vinegar and let them steam and wilt for 2 minutes. The stir fry was delicious.

CSA Week One-Romane Lettuce

The first veggie used was the Romane Lettuce. We Made BLT's. One of my favorite summer sandwiches. Wheat bread, light mayo, center cut low sodium bacon, tomato and my yummy romane lettuce. With Organic Disney Red Apple slices on the side.

CSA Week One.

Thank Goodness for my Mom and Dad and the internet. I arrived later than I wanted to pick up my first weeks produce. Not knowing what to expect, I had a basket and a bag to take home the fresh goodness. As I was picking up my share, I kept saying to myself - What is this? I have no clue what to do with this! To be honest it scared me a bit. Dave being the wonderful patient guy he is carried the produce while we walked the rest of the market. Then back to the car to get my bounty home. The first weeks tally: Kale, Turnips, Romane Lettuce, Field Lettuce, Garlic, Bok Choy, Broccoli Rabe, Strawberries, and Kohlrabi (the strange purple vegetable from space). I unpacked my veg and snapped some pictures. Called my Mom and send her some pictures to help me identify some of the items. The mystery items were: Kohlrabi and Kale. I made sure what I thought was a turnip really was a turnip. After two calls to the parents and about 30 minutes on the internet, I found all the information I needed to help me store my wonderful produce. After a lunch of home made pasta and sauce leftovers, I hit the internet again looking for recipes to try. Thanks to Emeril Green and Jamie Oliver.com I have some good recipes to start. I put a request out on facebook and twitter. Maybe I will get some additional good recipes. I will post pictures of my fresh produce and the recipe I chose to try as I cook through out the week. My mom sent me two great broccoli rabe recipes. so I am sure that will be first. Here is a picture of me and my Market Basket full of goodies.

Disney Two Page Layout

Here is my next Disney Offering. The Disney Themed Paper is from EK Success. The boarder punch is from EK Success. (Both ordered for me by The Scrapbook Shoppe) All the paper and embellishments came from the Scrapbook Shoppe on Airport Thru-Way The tiny mickey head punch and the waving Mickey punch came from Downtown Disney. The scalloped boarder was made using the Creative Memories Decorative trimmer.

How to put your Local Scrapbook Shop Out of Business

If you have a great local scrapbook shop that offers a nice environment, great service and innovative classes, it may not be there for long if you spend your money somewhere else. If you want it to thrive, grow, and be there for years to come, you have to spend your money there. If you don’t support your local scrapbook shop, they can not offer great products; and they can not offer great classes and in the end they will close their doors.

Stocking your local scrapbook shop with all of those great products is a very expensive venture. It is even harder when the on-line stores and big box retailers are competing with them for your business. What does this mean? Your local scrapbook shop purchases its products from a company that is called a distributor or a wholesaler. Your on-line supplier or Big Box Retailer uses these very same distributors. Your local scrap book shop sells a smaller amount of product for a higher price. This higher price provides the customer: a nice store to shop in and it pays the salary of the owner the store. That high price allows the shop owner to offer classes, birthday parties and open table time. The wholesaler has a warehouse stocked with great products but does not offer great classes and a great place to shop and one-on-one service.

Big Box Retailers and on-line stores try to make more money by doing away with all the things you love about your local scrapbook shop. Only your local scrapbook shop can offer you help with your new Circuit Machine, explain how heat embossing works and throw a fabulous birthday party for your 9 year old. You might save a few cents shopping on-line or in one of those big box stores, but who will be there to help you come up with the ideas for all those great supplies? Your local scrapbook shop!

Towns that support their local scrapbook shops have GREAT local scrapbook shops. If you are looking for that perfect paper or supply and you can’t find it, ask the owner of your scrapbook shop to order it for you and then buy it. Sign up for classes. Refer your crafty friends. Offer to teach a class. When you take a class remember, the teacher and owner have spent their valuable time and money preparing to make sure you have everything you need for that class. Want to re-create your great new project? Buy the supplies from the shop that taught the class. Tell your friends about your new techniques and who taught you the technique. Post pictures on your blog and link back to your local scrapbook shops site. Leave encouraging messages for the owner.

If you love to scrapbook and you love your local scrapbook shop, please don’t just show up for a crop loaded down with supplies from another supplier. Support the shop that offers you that table time and shares your love for scrapping. The projects you create together will last longer and have more meaning.