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Archive for September 1st, 2009

A Prayer for the ones we love.  It was 24 hours of worry but all is well.  😀  praying hands

 

 

When I dragged myself  from the comfort beneath the covers, everyone else was snoozing happily.  Shane doesn’t even get up with me anymore.  He waits for a little cuddle and belly scratch at the top of the stairs before I go down,  then closes his eyes and goes back to sleep until Ted gets up. 

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The treadmill looked awfully energetic this morning.  The Elliptical, a tad more relaxed.  But I took the bull by the horns, hopped on the T/M and pumped out 3.25 miles.  My shoulder started hurting HORRIBLY after about 10 minutes. I had to keep adjusting my arm position.  It went away as soon as I stopped running, but that was a good 20 minutes of agony.

The legs heard the morning call. It was 35 minutes of  presses, hack squats, deadlifts, lunges, extensions, curls, and calf raises.   

The temperature gage indicated a cool, crisp 48 degrees when we went out for a 38 minute trek around Valley View Restaurant.   Not a bad workout.  Wednesday should be easy – no early morning rising because we are going to The Fair!  New York State Fair – here we come!

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What about Bok Choy?

I like Bok Choy.

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Up until about 2 years ago, I never paid any attention to it in the store because I didn’t know what it was or how it tasted or even how to prepare it.  Since I’ve become much more “daring” with my cooking concoctions, Bok Choy has made several appearances to our dinner table.  

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I like the crispy ends.  In order to enjoy them, I cut off the really dirty thickest part of the bok choy “root” and slice the other white part into smaller pieces. 

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 I cook those white pieces in boiling water for about 8 minutes just to slightly tenderize.  

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The green leafy part, which when all is said and done, there isn’t  much left, is tender and doesn’t need much cooking. I don’t find it as bitter as some of the other leafy vegetables so I don’t boil it, I simply saute it with the tenderized white parts.

After the white roots of the bok choy have boiled for 8 minutes, they are drained and pat dry with a paper towel.  **When I saute a vegetable after boiling, I always try to get as much water from it as possible. If there is water left on it, the item will simply “steam” and not brown when sauteed or fried. **  Heat 1 TBS olive oil in a saute pan and, when hot, add the boiled white root chunks and 1/2 of a chopped onion.  Let them cook for about 5 minutes on medium high.  The chopped green, leafy ends are then added with 1 tsp Chile paste, 1 tsp garlic, 1 tsp soy sauce, a little salt and some fresh ground black pepper.  The mixture is cooked about 10 more minutes and ….Wallah!   A vegetable dish is served!

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Enjoy!

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Do you have a favorite vegetable? How about a favorite way to prepare a not so popular vegetable to make your family enjoy it?

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Here it is, September 1st already and time for the Sweet and Simple Baking roundup.  Jammy Doughnut Muffins. For the exact recipe, check here:

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Did I change this recipe? Not really. Instead of using strawberry or raspberry jam, I used my favorite which is Blueberry Preserves.

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My ingredients were as follows for 12 muffins.

  • 1 1/4 cup All Purpose flour
  • 3 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 4 oz granulated sugar
  • 2 whole eggs, slightly beaten
  • 1/3cup + 1 TBS milk
  • 6 TBS Unsalted butter – melted and cooled
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 12 tsp Blueberry Preserves

Topping

  • 3/4 cup butter
  • 1/2 cup sugar

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Directions:  Mix first 3 muffin ingredients in bowl.  Add sugar.  In another bowl, mix the eggs wtih the milk, butter, and vanilla.  Add the wet ingredient to the dry and only mix until everything is combined. Never overmix sweet breads or muffins.

Spoon 1/2 of your batter into your muffin cups (muffin tin lined with paper cups).  About 1 TBS + 1 tsp per muffin cup.

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NOTE:  My batter was really thick.

Top that batter with 1 tsp of blueberry preserve. Now top the preserves with the rest of the batter, again, about 1 TBS + 1 tsp per muffin cup. Bake 15 -20 minutes until golden.

 

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Topping:   Melt butter.  Dip the muffins in the melted butter then dip into the sugar.  Decorate as desired.

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Results:   A very tasty muffin when first out of the oven.  Then they got a little too dry for our liking.  Did I do something wrong? Not sure.  Will I try them again? Probably. I’ll most likely add a little oil.  Experimentation is good.

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Make sure to check out how everyone else did at the link, top of this post for Sweet and Simple Bakes.

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