Nothing but a nice fire

What a snowy, wintry day in Upstate. Just perfect for a Football Sunday and a great excuse not to do anything except lighting a nice warm fire.  That wasn’t quite the case around here. We did most of our Christmas gift wrapping. We got some washing done – cars and clothes. Ted did some shopping… for ME!!!! I baked the bases of my Almond Torte “thing” that will be explained at a later date.  I also made molasses bread which turned out really wonderful, especially since I didn’t have any bread flour.  See the recipe at the side, under “Other Meatless Dish Ideas”.  See also the “Recipe” page which has been update to include the difference among egg dishes such as omelets, stratas, etc.

molasses bread

 

My breakfast held held me over until a very late lunch at 3pm.  I had an arugula, watercress, broc-slaw salad with blue cheese crumbles, belgian endive and F/F Asian dressing. 

Dinner tonight  is Smokey 13 Bean Vegetable Soup.  I ended up cooking it in the pressure cooker because I forgot to soak the beans overnight.  It consisted of 1/2 onion chopped + 1 TBS garlic + 1/2 each red and green peppers chopped + fresh oregano leaves + 1 tsp turmeric + 2 tsp marjoram all sauteed in 1 TBS olive oil. I then added 1 TBS paprika +salt + pepper T/T + 3 cups white wine + 4 cups veggie broth + 4 bay leaves + 3 peeled, sliced parsnips + 1/2 cup sliced baby carrots, and the Bob’s Red Mill 13 Bean Soup Mix.  Set pressure cooker on high 22 min.  

Baked “Ritz Cracker Cod”.  1 1/2 lb fresh cod fillet soaked in lemon juice for 30 min.  Crush about 20 – 25 Reduced Fat Ritz Crackers to make crumbs.  Preheat oven to 425 F.  Melt 2 TBS Smart Balance in microwave.   Put Ritz crumbs in plastic bag and add about 1 TBS Italian spice mix.  Remove cod from lemon juice.  Coat with 1 TBS Smart Balance. Put cod in plastic bag with crumbs to coat all over. Put coated cod in oven proof dish (I use an aluminum pan lined with foil for easy clean up), and drizzle the other TBS Smart Balance over top.  Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese if you like at this point.  Bake in the preheated oven for about 2o min.  Serve on top of 13 Smokey Bean Soup with a side of oven roasted brussel sprouts.  Sprouts are prepared then boiled for 8 minutes. Cooled, cut in 1/2, sprinkled with salt and pepper and paprika (to complement the bean dish) and baked at 375F for 20 min.

Nutrition for Ritz cod is approx. as follows:  380 cals. 15 g Fat. 4 Carbs. 50g Protein.

That’s it for today.  We’re all pretty relaxed here with the fire going and the football game on.  It won’t be long before the snoring starts. Take care all.

Advertisement

Read Full Post »

Wintery White

When we first set out on our walk this snowy Sunday morning, it was coming down fairly hard.  In fact we thought we might go back and get sunglasses and hats to prevent the snow from hitting us in the eyes.  It was a beautiful sight though. The snow falling and still clean on the roads with a backdrop of early morning light.  So fresh. So crisp. 

We brought along Shane’s little frisbee which can be tucked away in my coat pocket until we come across a wide open clearing so we can play.  This happened on about the 13th hole of V.V.G.C. where we played a little while no one else was in sight.

We met 3 runners on the way home. Shane didn’t look so scary to them since he still had the frisbee in his mouth. In fact, the comment was “look how cute he is carrying his little toy”.   

We covered 5+ miles at a reasonable pace. Shane is passed out on the floor and Ted is cleaning up because he dressed too warm for the 29 degrees and got sweaty.  Unless I’m running, it seems impossible for me to sweat.

For breakfast, we cooked up some Ted version Protein Pancakes as he doesn’t like the ones I make for myself.  For his, we used about 2/3 cup buttermilk pancake mix + 1/2 cup Thick Oatmeal (dry) + 1/2 cup hot water + 1/2 cup soy milk + 1 tsp vanilla + 1 egg + 1 scoop Vanilla Protein Powder.  We peeled and diced a bosc pear and sauteed the pear pcs. along side of the cooking pancakes. They were cooked in Smart Balance.  Ted ate them too quickly for me to snap a shot. Sorry.

As for me, I love my EggBeaters.  I chopped an onion, about 2 TBS worth + 4 cherry toms. sliced + 2/3 cup broccoli slaw, chopped up.  Rubbed some olive oil around the pan and tossed it all in, added some garlic powder and 2 diced hot cherry pepper slices.  After that had cooked about 3 min., I added my Beaters (2/3 cup).  Topped the Beaters with 1 pc. of Lite Laughing Cow Garlic & Herb cheese.   Folded the omelet.  Added salsa for a finish.  This was served on top of 2 thin slices of pumpernickel bread.  

Both Ted and I had slices of the Kugel from yesterday. We can’t leave it alone!

As for today, I plan on making Molasses Bread. Changing the recipe to make it a yeast bread instead of a cakey type.  I am imparting on an experiment to make an Italian Dessert which is an Almond torte… but not quite.  I’ll fill you in more about this later.  The plan is to make a few of them as I am under the impression that they travel well and will keep.  As I said…. more on this later.

Did you know….. On this day in 1941, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor and….on this day 11 years ago, Ted and I went on our first date:  lunch at Jack Appleseeds (now Delmonico’s Steak House).

Hope your day is filled with fun stuff to do and stay safe!

Read Full Post »