Pesto, food of the gods....

I bet you are all wondering why I called this post Pesto, and yet there is picture of our infamous pizza! That's because this pizza is made with PESTO!!!!!!!!

Yes, I've done this before, but I decided to do it again. I made enough Pesto to have lunch tomorrow and sauce for pizza tonight.

MiniB Muffin is boycotting naps, and was so tired she fell asleep around 5pm. She did wake up in about an hour but was in such a mood she only wanted to eat a few bites of salad. Poor little girl. She'll get some pizza tomorrow. She does not like Pesto yet, so it'll be a good meal tomorrow for lunch for her, while Muffin Man and I chow down on green spaghetti!!

I added a half of a teaspoon of pesto to my half of a tablespoon (approx) of ranch dressing.......Ok, that's now my favorite dressing EVER! I bet it would taste good even without the ranch. Just an idea for all of you saladeaters!

2 different meals

I apologize for not having posted. For most of a week I have been simply exhausted...and therefore not able to do much on here.

Here is a couple of meals we have had recently:

Stirfried Rice

I had been absolutely exhausted one day, but around dinnertime suddenly had a burst of energy...so I made stirfried rice and wontons. There was just enough rice leftover for breakfast the next morning (good for me as leftovers is generally what I have to eat nowadays....nothing else is fast enough to fix), but all 14 wontons disappeared...MiniB Muffin, who "only likes cheese puffs" even ate two!! I apologize that there are no images of the wontons....

Wonton:

TVP granules
Brown gravy mix
water
minced onion
minced garlic
minced mushrooms
Wonton wraps

Take 1 tablespoon gravy mix per 1/2 cup water. Soak desired amounts of tvp in mixture. Saute TVP and minced onion, garlic, and mushrooms, until onions are translucent. Place approximately 1 tablespoon in the center of your wonton wrapper, fold and fry.

Haystacks

Easy meal that can be made vegan, or otherwise.

Chips, beans, cheese (optional), lettuce, tomatoes, onions, green peppers, and any other vegetables you feel like putting on top. Then top it with any or all of the following, sour cream (optional), salsa (not pictured), salad dressing, and quacamole.

I accidently made a haystack a bit too big for MiniB Muffin. She still ate the whole thing!! Definately a favorite meal at this house, and great for kids as they can leave off any toppings they aren't too keen on....

Falafels

I finally decided to attempt the infamous Falafel. I've had them in Jerusalem before, and do NOT like the versions you can purchase here. So, not having been brave enough to make my own, I just didn't have any. I thought they'd be too tricky. But I decided the other day to just DO IT!!!!

So, the preparation began. I wanted to have sprouts to go with it, and sprouts are good for you. So MiniB Muffin and I started some seeds last weekend.

I mixed and mashed and made my mix. Then, because I wanted to bake them, I flattened them and tried it out....hmmm...baking wasn't working this time. So I fried them....sigh....

But oh they were good!

We had a visitor come over for lunch, and he seems to have survived the meal. Our visitor was an old classmate of mine...from high school.

I have displayed here all the ingredients we used for our falafel sandwiches....its hard to see whats INSIDE a pita pocket, so I put it outside...that and I kinda accidently got pita folds and thought I got pockets...OPPS! Next time I will get pockets!!!

This is definately a recipe I will keep playing with, as the dough was a bit wet. That's why they wouldn't bake right I think. But they were so good I don't think anyone minded!!

Mac and Cheese again, but with Woodstock!

I know I know, Mac and cheese again??!?! Hey, I had nausea today something awful, so this was a meal I KNEW I could keep down. LOL. Ignore the salad dressing, I forgot to take a pic BEFORE I put it on...so just imagine your favorite dressing on there instead.

If you're wondering about why there's a pic of Woodstock on here, some ladies I'm friends with on a parenting board are doing a fun project/game where we send Woodstock all over the world visiting some of us. He'll even be going overseas to places like Australia. He's at my house this week and The Muffin Family are having loads of fun with him. He may be featured again in the next couple of days...so beware. Anyway, I just had to give him his own little plate, because you cater to guests...right?!

OH MY Hot Tamale!!!!!!

I have been thinking about making Tamales for sometime now, but EVERYONE told me they were a big deal for the holidays and you had to reserve a whole day for it...and....and....

I decided recently to do some research, and those naysayers were right....and wrong!!! Most people do make SPECIAL Tamales like that, but many cultures use tamales as we do sandwiches....so my interest went up significantly!!

Here is what I did. It was a bit time consuming for my first time, but that will lessen next time. I think I spent an hour doing the whole thing, being distracted by MiniB Muffin and The Muffin Man, while checking my directions a billion times... I expect much less time next time.

Basic Tamale Dough with Sweet Roasted Corn

2 cups corn kernels, fresh off the cob
1 1/2 cups masa harina
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 softened butter, margarine, or olive oil.
3/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons water
10 fresh corn husks (I ended up using only 7)
Meat mixture (vegemeat w/ sauteed onions and peppers)

Cook the corn in a non-stick pan, stirring constantly, until it is sweet and golden brown -- you want the natural sugars to come out.

Mix the masa, baking powder, salt, and cumin thoroughly together.

In another bowl, beat the butter until very light and creamy, about 5 minutes. If using olive oil, skip the beating and add directly to the masa. Add the corn and beat for 1 minute. Gradually beat in 3 tablespoons of masa mixture, then 3 tablespoons of water until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Continue beating in the masa and water, alternately, until the dough is very smooth and of spreading consistency, about 5 minutes.

Place 1 husk on a flat surface and put about enough dough in the husk that flattened out, leaves a 1-inch gap all the way around. If using filling, add filling to center. Fold the sides of the husk to the center to overlap. At this point you can tie them or fold the ends over the center of the tamale. Repeat with next husk.

Place it seam side down in a steamer pot that is big enough and boil water in lower section for 1-2 hrs. Unfold one to see if its done, the dough should seperate from the husk easily.

Yield: 7-10 tamales

Adapted From: Emeril Lagasse, ESSENCE OF EMERIL SHOW#EE2185

Oh my goodness, very good. I will be doing this again with different fillings!

MiniB Muffin wasn't sure about the Tamale, so just incase I served this with rice and beans. She picked the corn out of the masa and ate her rice and beans....and ate about 1/4 of her tamale. Success in my eyes....she tried it and ate some. Next time I'm sure she'll eat more.

BTW I posted three meals today, so be sure to scroll down!

Soybased Corn Chowder...MMMMM

Now that we are making our own Soymilk, I know exactly what's entering our system, and it ain't anything but good! Thanks Corn Muffin!!!

I made some fresh soymilk, and used it as the base for this lovely corn chowder. Corn, onions, and potatoes, flavored with oregano, paprika, garlic, and basil.

Toast for dipping in....MMM good.

MiniB Muffin loved her soup, as usual, and heartily ate it all up with her bread. She even practiced dipping the bread. Didn't do to badly either.

The Muffin Man was gone for a meeting last night, so he ate when he got home, and couldn't help himself, had to go back for seconds......at 11:30 at night!!! Just couldn't sleep without one more bowl!

Monday night, simple pastas

Monday, I took my glucose test, to rule out gestational diabetes. Definately not MY choice of tests, I hate those things. It threw me for such a huge loop all day long that I was totally unproductive.

So we had spaghetti and salad for supper. A nice vegan meal with lots of healthy nutrients and carbs for me. For lunch I pigged out on potatoes to help get my blood sugar somewhat normal...it did work, for a few hours. I was back to normal the next day.

Warning, you will be seeing more white breads and starches for the next few months, as my body seems to hold onto those better right now.

MiniB Muffin loved this meal, of course. After all, what could be better than spaghetti complimented with loads of veggies?!

The end of last week wasn't the greatest for pictures of food, as one night we ate leftovers and another night we made spinach quiche, but then ended up being treated to dinner by our friends when they got home from Thailand. SOOOO...I'm posting a picture of my Challah, the bread I have started making again on Friday nights.

Usually when I make Challah, I do a three strand braid, but this time I decided to try to be creative and do a four strand braid....Wow, that is definately better than a three strand!! Maybe next time I'll get brave and do a five or six strand!!!

Just so you know, this is half of a batch of bread, but the bread is sitting on a dinner plate!! And the batch is the size of a typical loaf of bread, so Challah is long, but a bit narrow and short in height when I made it. It is however wonderful to eat!

And for all you Sesame Street viewers, when you make a pb & J sandwich, you get what we call a Mumphrey the Magician sandwich....a Challah Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich!!! (Mumphrey says A la Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches, as he waves his wand!)