Sweet Italian Sausage with Apple & Fennel Seed

     As I mentioned in my last post, J.T. and I just celebrated our 6 month wedding anniversary.  Over the weekend, we took a quick getaway trip to Orange Beach.  One thing that we were most looking forward to about the trip was the food – seafood to be exact.  I didn’t grow up eating a lot of seafood and neither did J.T.  We decided to be a little adventurous with our menu selections (he was definitely more adventurous than me).  Between the two of us, we ate flounder, stuffed crab, crab claws, shrimp, scallops, snowcrab, royal reds, and crawfish.  The best place we ate was The Gumbo Shack, located in Fairhope, Alabama and featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives.  They had the best gumbo I have ever tasted!  After stuffing ourselves with seafood for two days, we finished off our trip with a grass feed hamburger from Lulu’s.  J.T. could teach Lulu a thing or two about cooking a hamburger!  I enjoyed our time eating out, but I was ready for a home cooked meal after our vacation.  For our first meal back, I cooked Sweet Italian Sausage with Apple & Fennel Seed.  This hearty meal of sausage and white beans is a quick and easy supper for a cold weekday evening. 

 Recipe adapted from Poor Girl Gourmet

Ingredients

·         1 teaspoon fennel seeds

·         3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

·         1 medium sweet onion, chopped

·         4 links sweet Italian chicken sausage, casings removed, and cut into 1 – inch pieces

·         ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

·         ½ cup water

·         1 Granny Smith apple, finely diced

·         ½ pound great northern beans, cooked (or 2 – 15 ounce cans)

·         1 teaspoon kosher salt

·         ½ teaspoon coarse ground black pepper

Directions

1.      Heat a large sauté pan over medium heat.  Toast the fennel seeds for exactly 2 minutes, stirring the seeds around the pan constantly.  Remove from the pan and set aside.

2.      In the same pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat.  Add the onions and sauté for 5 minutes, or until they begin to turn translucent.  Add the sausage to the pan and cook until it is nicely browned, at least 10 minutes.  Sprinkle in the crushed red pepper flakes and pour in the water.  Scrape any browned bits up from the bottom of the pan.

3.      Add the toasted fennel seeds, apples, and beans.  Cover and cook over low heat for 15 minutes.  The bright green apple skin should turn a pale green.  Season with salt and pepper.  Serves 4 large portions.  

Publix – October 26, 2012

     The month of October has flown by!  After feeling like September would never end, I am sad to see October pass by so quickly. One day from now will mark the 6 month wedding anniversary of J.T. and I.  The first 6 months have been so much fun and I cannot wait to see what is in store for our future.  We will be celebrating this weekend and I am looking forward to what J.T. has planned.  I smell seafood J

     

     A little update on our “real food” experiment:  According to my blog, we have been eating “real food” since September 7.  J.T. and I constantly talk about how we feel (physically, mentally, etc.) since cutting down tremendously on our consumption of processed foods.   We both have seen a definite change.  I was worried about gaining weight, since I wouldn’t be eating anything with artificial sweetener.  Everything we eat around here is real – honey, maple syrup, butter, coconut oil, olive oil, etc.  Surprisingly, neither one of us has gained weight since changing to higher calorie dense foods.  J.T. has actually lost 2 pounds (keep in mind this is a man who eats homemade brownies topped with full fat vanilla ice cream every night before bed).  We both feel full for longer periods of time.  I will admit that this change in lifestyle has not been easy.  I went from buying all J.T.’s school snacks, such as peanut butter cracker packs and nutri-grain bars, to making homemade crackers and muffins.  I also typically make a batch of brownies (or cookies) and granola cereal on a weekly basis.  I try my best to keep our freezer stocked with homemade waffles, pancakes, chicken stock, vegetable stock, pizza crust, cornbread, etc. to make life a little easier during the week.  I find myself constantly doubling recipes and freezing half.  Practically everything we eat is made from scratch now and I wouldn’t have it any other way.  I love feeling better.  

·         Dairy

o   1 gallon Publix Greenwise Organic Milk @ $5.99

o   ½ gallon Silk almond milk @ $3.49

§  $2.00/1 manufacturer coupon - $1.49

o   1 dozen Publix Greenwise Organic eggs @ $3.99

·         Grocery

o   (3) Publix Greenwise Organic cereal @ $1.99 each - $5.97

o   2 lbs. Publix Great Northern beans @ $3.49

o   Spring Tree Grade B Maple Syrup @ $4.75

·         Meat

o   1 lb. Publix Greenwise Chicken sausage @ $5.54

·         Frozen

o   Publix Greenwise Organic Vanilla Ice cream @ $3.50

o   (2) Cascadian Farm Organic Broccoli & blueberries @ $5.98

§  (1) $0.85/1 manufacturer coupons & (1) $2.00/2 Publix coupon - $3.13

·         Produce

o   Organic bananas @ $0.99/lb. - $2.05

o   1 organic Granny Smith apple @ $2.69/lb. - $0.83

o   1 Del-Monte Pineapple @ $2.99

§  $1.00/1 manufacturer coupon - $1.99

o   1 head green cabbage @ $1.24

o   1  sweet onion @$1.29 - $0.65

·         Other

o   7^th Generation dish liquid @ $2.50

§  $1.00/1 manufacturer coupon $1.50

o   Publix Parchment Paper @ $2.79

Total before coupons              $60.66

Less: coupons used                   (6.85)

Total with Tax                        $53.81

Peanut Squash Soup

     Once a year, J.T. must attend a Northridge High school football game.  For the last three years, I have had the privilege of being his date J.  J.T.’s middle school kids are given the opportunity to play with the high school band at the last home football game of the year.  In previous years, J.T. and I have gone out to eat after the game.  I am not sure why I remember all this, but two years ago we ate at a Mexican restaurant and one year ago we ate at Wendy’s (chili and baked potatoes for both of us).  This year we decided we would eat at home – Peanut Squash soup and whole grain popovers to be exact.  Lately, every time J.T. and I have eaten out, it has been a disappointment.  The quality of the food is not what it should be and is not worth our money.  Yes, we still eat at Zoe’s Kitchen on Wednesday, but even the quality of their food could be improved upon.  The only restaurant in Tuscaloosa worth every penny is Epiphany Café.  J.T. and I had our rehearsal dinner at Epiphany’s and the food is always outstanding! Back to the soup – I made this soup and the popovers in less than an hour the morning of the Northridge game.  All we had to do was reheat and eat.  The meal is also great because it is budget friendly.  The peanut butter serves as the protein in this meal – no meat required.  This soup has a sweet and spicy flavor.  If you would like to cut down on the amount of heat, decrease or omit the cayenne pepper and crushed red pepper flakes.

Recipe adapted from 100 Days of Real Food

Ingredients

·         2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

·         2 pounds butternut squash, cubed into big chunks

·         1 large onion, diced

·         6 garlic cloves, chopped

·         1 teaspoon cumin

·         1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt

·         ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

·         4 cups vegetable stock

·         ¾ cup smooth peanut butter

·         2 tablespoons tomato paste

·         ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

Directions

1.      Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat.  Add the squash, onion, garlic, cumin, kosher salt, and cayenne pepper.  Sauté until the onion becomes translucent, about 7 minutes. 

2.      Stir in the vegetable stock, peanut butter, tomato paste, and red pepper flakes.   Bring to a boil, cover, reduce the heat to low, and simmer for about 30 minutes, or until the butternut squash breaks in half when pierced with a fork.  Serves 5 to 6. 

Note:  I made this using my own homemade vegetable stock.  If you are using store bought vegetable stock, you may need to decrease the amount of kosher salt.   

Publix – October 19, 2012

     I feel like I have spent most of my time in the kitchen baking this week.  I made pumpkin muffins, blueberry muffins, brownies, 4 logs of slice and bake cheese crackers, wheat thins, and granola.  I am still working on the perfect blueberry muffin recipe.  My batch last week was too crumbly, and not crumbly enough this week.  I also attempted to make cornmeal biscuits for my seafood pot pie, which I am serving at Sunday lunch.  FAIL.  The dough never came together, so instead I will make drop biscuits and hope they turn out decent on top of the pie.  Gluten free baking for me has definitely been trial and error.  Luckily, nothing I have ever made has been inedible.  
     
     I am taking a break from the kitchen today and going shopping with my Mama. We are stopping by Earth Fare on the way home, one of my favorite grocery stores!  I have been under budget the past 2 weeks in order to have a little extra money to spend at Earth Fare.  Hopefully, I won't go overboard!  You may have noticed that the coupon savings have really plummeted.  I guess my grocery trip blogs have become more about budgeting organic foods, than couponing.  Knowing that I have to post what I buy, holds me accountable to my budget, and that's why I keep doing it.     

·         Dairy

o   ½ gallon Publix Greenwise Organic Milk @ $3.89

o   1 lb. Publix Greenwise Organic Butter @ $5.69

o   ½ gallon Almond Breeze Almond Milk @ $2.50

o   1 dozen Publix Greenwise Organic eggs @ $3.99

·         Grocery

o   Publix Greenwise Organic Coffee @ $5.99

o   2 lbs. King Arthur Organic Whole Wheat flour @ $2.69

o   Publix Greenwise Organic toasted oats cereal @ $3.79

o   (1) can Giorgio Organic mushrooms @ $0.95

·         Meat

o   1 lb. medium white shrimp @ $6.99/lb. - $6.99 (not pictured)

o   1 ¾ lb. ground beef @ $5.85 (farmer’s market)

·         Frozen

o    (2) Cascadian Farms Organic broccoli & peas @ $4.48

§  (2) $0.75/1 manufacturer coupons & (1) $2.00/2 Publix coupon - $1.48

·         Produce

o   Organic bananas @ $0.99/lb. - $2.56

o   Sweet  onions @ $0.99/lb. - $1.91

o   2 lb. green cabbage @ $1.62

o   1 garlic bulb @ $0.33

Total before coupons              $57.97

Less: coupons used                    (3.50)

Total with Tax                        $54.47

Indian Cornmeal Pudding

 Each week I make a dessert to be served at Sunday lunch.  I sometimes even make dessert more than once a week.  My husband has a thing for sweets.  He would deny his love for dessert if you asked him, but every night around 8:00 you can find him with a bowl of something sweet.  I usually don’t make anything for dessert that I can eat.  Of course I have dessert on my birthday and I had a slice of wedding cake at our wedding, but dessert is something that I have pushed away.  Mainly because I have a huge fear of gaining back all the weight I have lost.  My love of sweets is the primary reason I used to be overweight.  I will admit that I have somewhat of a complex about being well-rounded again.  Although I have had my weight under control for over 5 years now, I have only recently learned that it doesn't have to be all or nothing.  It is fine for me to have dessert occasionally, because everything in moderation is okay.  The past few weeks I have served a dessert on Sunday that I could eat – all adapted to be gluten and dairy free.  I have been on a pudding kick lately – Vanilla Bean Pudding, Indian Cornmeal Pudding, and Pumpkin Custard.  Indian Cornmeal Pudding taste like the gingerbread men cookies you eat at Christmas, but in pudding form.  I served our pudding warm from the oven and topped it with vanilla ice cream.   

Recipe adapted from Cooking with Cornmeal

Ingredients

·         ½ cup cornmeal

·         ¼ teaspoon kosher salt

·         ¼ teaspoon baking soda

·         3 cups almond milk, divided

·         2 tablespoons extra-virgin coconut oil

·         1 egg

·         ¼ cup dark molasses

·         1/3 cup honey

·         1 teaspoon cinnamon

·         ½ teaspoon nutmeg

Directions

1.      In a medium sauce pan whisk together the cornmeal, salt, and baking soda.  Pour in 1 ½ cups of almond milk and whisk until combined.  Bring to a boil over medium heat, whisking continuously until thickened.  Remove from the heat and set aside.

2.      In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the coconut oil, egg, molasses, honey, cinnamon, nutmeg and remaining almond milk.  Temper this mixture with the cooked cornmeal mixture until everything is combined.  Pour the batter into a greased 1 quart casserole dish.  Bake for 1 ½ hours at 325 degrees.  Serve hot or cold with ice cream, if desired.  Serves 6.   

Publix & Farmer’s Market – October 11, 2012

      We ran out of coffee on Thursday.  By ran out, I mean there was absolutely nothing that could be brewed Friday morning.   If you know me (or J.T.), you understand that coffee is an essential part of our lives first thing in the morning.  I define “first thing” as the coffee being ready to drink as soon as I roll out of bed.  My SWEET husband normally preps and programs the coffee pot the night before.  The coffee catastrophe meant I had to go the grocery store at some point on Thursday.  Since I hate going multiple times a week, I decided to go ahead and get all my groceries a day early…living on the edge.  I was slightly dreading this trip to the store.  The Publix motto “where shopping is a pleasure” did not define my shopping experience last week.  I had a very rude cashier who did not accept my coupons nicely.  She instead complained the whole time about people who coupon.  Fortunately, my trip was much more pleasant this week.  My cashier, Mack, said he enjoyed scanning coupons.  WHAT A RELIEF.

    I think many people have taken advantage of coupons and abused the practice.  More recently, I have noticed how cautious cashiers are when accepting coupons.  They read the fine print very closely, as though they are trying to catch a mistake.  In fact, many cashiers at Publix do not know their own coupon policy.  I have had a few question me before, as though I am committing a crime.  I am very careful to strictly follow the Publix store coupon policy.  At the moment, Publix is very gracious with coupons – at least most of the cashiers.  I sometimes wonder how long they can continue to accept manufacturer coupons, competitor store coupons, and even store brand competitor coupons.  Is this too good to be true?  When will Publix have enough of customer coupon policy abuse?  I see too many people use multiple Target coupons on like items.  The Target coupons clearly read one coupon per customer.  I know that many good things come to an end, but I hope the gracious Publix coupon policy is not one of those things. 

·         Dairy

o   (2) ½ gallons Organic Valley 2% organic milk @ $7.00

§  $1.00/1 manufacturer coupon - $6.00

o   (2) 8 oz. blocks Cabot Vermont cheddar cheese @ $5.00

§  $1.00/2 manufacturer coupon - $4.00

o   (1) ½ galloon Silk almond milk @ $3.49

§  $1.00/1 manufacturer coupon - $2.74

·         Grocery

o   (2) containers Publix Greenwise Organic Oats @ $3.98

o   (1) box Publix Greenwise Organic Toasted Oats cereal @ $3.79

o   (1) bag Publix Greenwise Organic Coffee @ $4.79

o   (2) 28 oz. cans Muir Glen whole tomatoes @ $4.78

§  (2) $1.00/1 manufacturer coupons - $2.78

o   (2) 4 oz. cans Giorgio Organic mushrooms @ $1.90

·         Meat

o   3 lb. beef chuck roast - $11.50 (farmer’s market)

·         Frozen

o   ½ gallon Publix Greenwise Organic Vanilla Ice cream @ $3.50

o   (2) bags Cascadian Farm Organic broccoli florets @ $5.00

§  (2) $0.75/1 manufacturer coupons & (1) $2.00/2 Publix coupon - $1.48

·         Produce

o   Organic bananas @ $0.99/lb. - $1.72

o   2 lb. bag onions @ $1.99

o   1 lb. Publix Greenwise Organic Carrots @ $1.29/lb.

o   1 garlic bulb @ $0.30

$5.00 off $30.00 purchase Winn-Dixie competitor coupon

Total before coupons            $63.79

Less: coupons used                (13.25)

Total with Tax                      $50.54

Black Bean, Sweet Potato, & Quinoa Chili

     Lately, I have been incorporating different grains into our meals.  I am trying to reduce our consumption of our normal stand by: whole grain brown rice. If you haven’t been following the news, rice (brown rice in particular – even organic) has been found to contain high levels of arsenic.  The FDA does not recommend that we, the consumers, change our consumption of rice.  They will let us know more information after further testing has been done.  I will not be waiting around for the government to decide if rice is safe for me to eat.  Although, we have not given up rice completely, we have been eating it less often.  Thanks to my recent trip to Earth Fare, we tried millet for the first time over supper last night.  J.T. and I decided millet tasted like a cross between rice and grits, deliciousness.  Unlike millet, I believe quinoa is more of an acquired taste.  I have been eating quinoa for a while, but J.T. has only had it a handful of times.  Quinoa has a nutty, distinct flavor and is packed full of protein and fiber.  Black Bean, Sweet Potato, & Quinoa Chili is a great way to try quinoa, because the quinoa is incorporated into foods that are probably familiar.  This is a mild chili.  If you would like to bump up the heat (J.T. would probably eat fire and think it wasn't hot enough) double the chili powder and cayenne pepper.   

Recipe adapted from With Style and Grace

Ingredients

·         ½ pound black beans, soaked overnight, rinsed, and drained

·          2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

·         1 onion, chopped

·         4 garlic cloves, minced

·         1 tablespoon chili powder

·         1 tablespoon cumin

·         1 tablespoon paprika

·         ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

·         1 (14.5 ounce) can diced fire-roasted tomatoes, preferably no salt added

·         5 cups water

·         2 teaspoons kosher salt

·         2 medium sized sweet potatoes (about a pound), peeled and cubed

·         ½ cup quinoa, rinsed

Directions

1.      In large heavy bottomed Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium heat.  Add the onions and sauté until translucent.  Toss in the garlic, chili powder, cumin, paprika, and cayenne.  Stir all the ingredients around to coat the onions.  Cook until the garlic is fragrant, about 30 seconds.  Add the tomatoes, black beans, and water.  Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer for 2 ½ hours.

2.      Add the salt, sweet potatoes, and quinoa.  Cook until the potatoes are fork tender, about 30 minutes.  Serves 5.