Terrapin Station

Butternut Squash & Blackeyed Pea Curry - Vegan

Fell in love with this recipe that Jemma brought to us from New Zealand at the RevGals Board meeting last fall. 

 

Butternut Squash & Blackeye Pea Curry – vegan

1 butternut squash

Coconut or olive oil

1 Tbsp. Garam Masala

Salt and Pepper to taste

1 tsp. mustard seed, whole

½ tsp. ground turmeric

1 serrano pepper, without seeds, cut lengthwise

½ onion

3 cloves garlic

1 can blackeye peas

1 can diced tomatoes

1 can coconut milk

Cilantro for garnish

Cooked Brown rice

1. Set the rice to cook.
2. Preheat oven to 400F. Peel the squash, scoop out and discard seeds, and cut into crescent shapes about ¼” at the widest. Transfer to a big bowl, drizzle with oil, and sprinkle with garam masala, 1 tsp. of salt and ½ tsp. black pepper. Toss to coat evenly, then arrange on a baking sheet lined with foil or parchment. Roast for 30 minutes, or until fork tender.
3. Meanwhile, put 1 tsp. of oil into a large dutch oven over medium heat. Once hot, add the mustard seed and turmeric. When the seeds pop, add the pepper and the onion. Cook for 5-7 minutes until translucent, then add the garlic. Cook for another couple of minutes, then add the blackeye peas and stir to mix. Add the tomatoes and cook 2 more minutes.
4. Add the coconut milk and season with salt and pepper. Add the roasted squash to the pan and stir to mix. Cover and leave to heat through, 5-7 minutes. Taste for salt and seasoning (you may add chili powder if desired).
5. Serve curry over rice, garnished with cilantro.

Source: www.thekaibox.com, New Zealand.

Note: I like this more soupy, so I add extra tomatoes, coconut milk, and blackeye peas.

I can cook!

That is, I can arouse myself from the torpor of daily living to chop things and make a meal. 

It started with egg salad from our Easter Egg hunt finds. I chopped celery, onion, eggs, added mayo. Pretty simple. When I finished, there was a real, created product for Ken to eat. 

I was astonished at how good that felt to do, and how long it seems to have been since I've done that. We've been eating frozen food, take out food. 

This past week: 

I made an apple dump cake in the crock pot. I bought and chopped toppings for tacos, and I remembered cilantro (which I never do). I made a pot of pinto beans. I have ingredients for soup and for quiche.

This is not cordon bleu stuff. But it is creative act. It is nourishment. It is nurturance. 

Grief is not forever. 

I arise a little more every day. 

My Whole 30, day 0 (prep) and day 1

I recently read a Facebook post from someone who shared a McSweeney's article , "An Open Letter to Paleo Diet Enthusiasts." It's funny and snarky and just exactly like McSweeney's.

So, I will say right up front here, if you do not want to read about my Whole 30, then don't. Feel free to ignore. :) That'll be just fine with me. 

I decided to try this because I need a kick start. I am also convinced that flour and sugar are a big problem for me. For years I didn't ever have either in my house, I never ate refined suger anywhere, and I maintained a 40 lb weight loss for about 10 years, accompanied by regular exercise. THEN, life happened, along with new people who encouraged me to "just try a little!" Uhmhm.

So, here I am, almost as heavy as I have ever been, and it's time to make a change. I have some physical issues (knees, hip, being a woman nearing age 50) that are not allowing me to just "work it off" like I could in the past. Certainl, I plan to include appropriate exercise with this eating plan, and I hope and believe that as my body sheds inflammation from gluten and other substances, I will be in less pain and better able to do more, physically.

Essentially, this is a 30-day plan of removing several food groups that tend to cause systemic inflammation and digestive difficulties (and MANY other problems). You remove those foods from your system, going (they say) through some fairly unpleasant detox symptoms*, and then you add them back one by one, after the Whole 30 is complete, to see how your body reacts. 

So, what DO I eat on this plan? Here's the Whole 30 "elevator pitch", taken directly from the link here.

The Whole9 Nutrition Elevator Pitch

I eat “real” food – fresh, natural food like meat, vegetables and fruit.  I choose foods that are nutrient dense, with lots of naturally-occurring vitamins and minerals, over foods that have more calories but less nutrition.  And food quality is important – I’m careful about where my meat comes from, and buy produce locally and organically as often as possible.

It’s not a low calorie “diet” – I eat as much as I need to maintain strength, energy and a healthy weight.  In fact, my diet is probably much higher in fat than you’d imagine.  Fat isn’t the enemy – it’s a great energy source when it comes from high quality foods like avocado, coconut and nuts. And I’m not trying to do a “low carb” thing, but since I’m eating vegetables and fruits instead of bread, cereal and pasta, it just happens to work out that way.

Eating like this is good for maintaining a healthy metabolism, and reducing inflammation within the body.  It’s been doing great things for my energy levels, body composition and performance in the gym.  It also helps to minimize my risk for a whole host of lifestyle diseases and conditions, like diabetes, heart attack and stroke.

 

So, there you go. I am going to be recording my meals on the blog, because I want to keep track of what I eat, when. Otherwise I'll get to a point where I can't think of a SINGLE thing to eat, and this will help me. Again, don't read it if you don't care.

Tuesday, Feb. 4 - Day One. For breakfast I had scrambled eggs and some roasted cauliflower and carrots.  Black coffee to follow.

For lunch, a big salad with olive oil & balsamic vinegar plus cukes, avocado, cherry tomatoes, and some pineapple meat balls (I made these the night before) - most yummy.

For a snack, some whole almonds.

For dinner, I enjoyed a steak, cooked in ghee (clarified butter) and sea salt. Delicious. I had more of the cauliflower and carrots with it.

According to the Timeline, this is "SO WHAT'S THE BIG DEAL?" day, and so far that's how it feels.

To drink: water, or iced tea, or herbal tea, no sweetener. I've been working on weaning myself off of all sweeteners for the past few months.

I was not raised to use sugar for any beverages...certainly not in iced tea. As I was growing up, we used a saccharin liquid called "Sweeta" for the tea we always had with dinner. My mother had read William Duffy's classic, Sugar Blues, and did not give us sugar in drinks like tea or Hi-C. Instead, we used Sweeta or pink packets...later, blue or yellow packets and Stevia. We all know how dubious the science on those is.

I'm on schedule to do this with a friend, which is comforting, and I have another friend who has just finished her Whole 30. I'm going to link to her blog post about it, here. 

So! that's my story. We'll see how it goes. :)

 

* there's a timeline of typical symptoms that folks experience during the Whole 30, linked here. If I am difficult to get along with this month...please be patient with me! 

Cilantro Lime Soup

Cilantro Lime Soup

via Gigi , my first foodie friend.  I was friends with Gigi before I ever heard that term even.  Made it for dinner tonight...so yummmmm

2 tablespoons olive oil (I used coconut oil)
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon chili powder
2 skinless boneless chicken breast halves, cut into 3/4-inch pieces
5 cups canned low-salt chicken broth
1 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels (I used black beans instead; I don't care for corn)
1 cup chopped seeded tomatoes
1/2 bunch fresh cilantro sprigs, tied together with kitchen string.

***
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
Sour cream
print a shopping list for this recipe

Preparation
Heat oil in heavy large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic; sauté until slightly softened, about 3 minutes. Add chili powder; stir 1 minute. Add chicken; stir 2 minutes. Add broth, corn, tomatoes and 1/2 bunch cilantro sprigs to saucepan; bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer until chicken is cooked through, about 10 minutes. Discard cilantro sprigs. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Chill. Bring to simmer before continuing.)
Add chopped cilantro and lime juice to soup. Season with salt and pepper. Garnish with sour cream.

Read More: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Cilantro-Lime-Soup-599#ixzz0iS9DVsge

Gigi's further comments:  I roasted the chicken with lime juice and butter before chopping it & adding it to the soup, and I added a can of black beans, rinsed & drained. Half of the tomatoes I used were "fire roasted" diced tomatoes.

And remember, Xochitl chips are the best, and worth every penny!  Http://www.salsaxochitl.com/pages/products/totopos.html

This is a recipe that gets me somewhere close to using up a whole bunch of cilantro!  Love it.

Sweet & Sour Slow Cooker Chicken Curry a la WW

 

This was our super yummy, uber-easy dinner last night:

• 1 lb uncooked boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into 1-inch pieces (I used thighs)
• 1 lg. green pepper, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 lg. Vidalia onion, sliced (Texas 1015's work fine)
• 14 1/2 oz. stewed tomatoes
• 1/2 c. mango chutney (found in ethnic food aisle at local grocery)
• 1/4 c. water
• 2 T. cornstarch
• 1 1/2 tsp curry powder, or more to taste (I like lots)

Instructions

Place chicken, pepper and onion in a slow cooker; top with tomatoes.

Mix together remaining ingredients in a small bowl. Pour over chicken mixture, cover and cook on low heat for 4 hours. Yields about 1 1/2 to 2 cups per serving.

4 servings, 6 points per. 

thanks to Nikki, Kat, and Jan for asking for the recipe.

I cooketh, I worketh.

Went to 8:30 church this morning.  I have decided to attend that service for a while, for several reasons: it's the family service, just before Sunday School, so there are more kids to get to know; it's less "high" in its liturgy (no incense among other things); and the music is a mixture of Hymnal 1982 and a Roman hymnal called Gather that has a good many contemporary things.  It feels more like "me" to me.  I think.

But what I miss is that in this service we only read the Old Testament and the Gospel...no Psalm and no Epistle.  That's okay...for instance I didn't have to hear the dreaded "full armor of God" passage.  But I like to know the whole lectionary for the week.  Guess I'd better spend a little more time at the Tuesday Preacher Party in days to come...

First day of Sunday School.  We had a great class on The Lord's Prayer by our new deacon.  A BIG group! 

and now I'm home! 

I made a recipe from the Cooking and Screaming book for lunch.  It was yum, but I've already figured out something to try differently next time. 

Tagliatelle with Grated Zucchini a la Adrienne Kane

(My grocery doesn't carry any tagliatelle!  So I substituted farfalle (bowties), not knowing that tagliatelle is similar to fettucine.  You lives and you learns...)

2 T unsalted butter

1 T olive oil

1 pinch dried red pepper flakes

2 1/2 c grated zucchini

2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

salt & pepper to taste

1/2 c heavy cream

8 oz. dried pasta

1/4 c minced fresh flat-leaf parsley

1/2 c grated Parmesan cheese

1/4 t0 1/2 c reserved pasta cooking water

Take off church clothes and put on t-shirt.  Pour Diet A&W festively into a wine glass to sip while cooking (no wine, as must work later today). 

In large skillet over medium heat, melt the butter & olive oil.  Add the pepper flakes and sauté briefly.  Turn the heat to medium-high and add the zucchini, garlic, salt and pepper, tossing to combine. 

The zucchini will be glossy (beautiful) and covered in butter and olive oil.  What's not to like so far!?

Flatten into a large pancake so that the zucchini begins to exude liquid.  Continue sautéing and flattening for 8-10 minutes, until the liquid is gone and the zucchini begins to brown and has reduced in volume by a third.  (or not so much). 

Add the heavy cream and bring to a simmer.  Reduce the heat to low and cook for 1-2 minutes, allowing the flavors to marry.  Meanwhile, cook the pasta according to the package instructions until al dente.  Toss the pasta with the sauce.  Add the parsley, cheese, and any of the pasta cooking water that might be needed to make the sauce loose and flowing.  Taste for seasoning and serve with extra Parmesan cheese. 

So, there you go.  Unfortunately, the cheese did the thing I don't like about Parm - it got clumpy.  Now this wasn't artisan cheese, but neither was it Kraft...it was good quality fresh grated Parmesan.  Any suggestions?  I think I will just stop trying to cook stuff with Parmesan in it.  I would have liked this just fine without the cheese...it was okay with it, just I don't like clumpy food. 

This afternoon and evening:  picking up incoming students and helping them move into the residence halls. 

I am the Carb of Life

Not to be flip, but thinking about what bread obviously meant to Jesus and the people around him: it was THE staple of their diets. 

This week's Gospel (John 6) includes this, vs. 48-51...

I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.

Image:  Kristin Malcolmberry

************************

I have family who have spent a long time on the Atkins Diet.  Ken and I tried that one time and I always say, it's a good thing that was before we married, because we might've divorced over it.  We lasted 4 days. 

I've been on Scarsdale, Weight Watchers, etc.  Ah, the diet craze. 

Recently I talked with a friend, who mentioned that a mutual friend and her spouse are on the Caveman Diet. 

The essentials of the Paleolithic Diet are:

Eat none of the following:

· Grains- including bread, pasta, noodles

· Beans- including string beans, kidney beans, lentils, peanuts, snow-peas and peas

· Potatoes

· Dairy products

· Sugar

· Salt

Eat the following:

· Meat, chicken and fish

· Eggs

· Fruit

· Vegetables (especially root vegetables, but definitely not including potatoes or sweet potatoes)

· Nuts, eg. walnuts, brazil nuts, macadamia, almond. Do not eat peanuts (a bean) or cashews (a family of their own)

· Berries- strawberries, blueberries, raspberries etc.

 Try to increase your intake of:

· Root vegetables- carrots, turnips, parsnips, rutabagas, Swedes

· Organ meats- liver and kidneys (I accept that many people find these unpalatable and won’t eat them)

This friend also said that the plan she is following says one should NOT do cardio, because cavemen didn't do cardio. 

I say, but we are not cavemen!  We live MUCH longer than cavemen; our general daily activities are entirely different; we are raised on antibiotics!

**********************

Well, Jesus wasn't a caveman.  He ate a First-Century diet.  But we don't live then, either, now do we?  We live in 2009....

**********************

The friend also mentioned an eating plan where one would eat no processed food.  The rule of thumb is:  If your great-grandmother wouldn't recognize it, don't eat it. 

This sounds a small amount more reasonable to me, as a rule of thumb, anyway.  Maybe microwave popcorn and Weight Watchers desserts and all the stuff made out of chemicals could fall away?  Not a one of us needs any of that stuff that I can see (but feel free to disagree here...)

Maybe I need to put up a photo in the kitchen of my Gramma Etta and consult with her before I snack...or take her to the grocery with me, taped to my coupon caddy?  Wait...coupons are almost all for processed food.  Hmm. 

I could do without carbs, but do I want to do that for my whole life?  Uh-uh.  I want a diet/lifestyle that feels like the bread of life. 

I'll keep you posted.

No Diet Day - reprinted from CoH Daily Devotion

I get this daily email from the Cathedral of Hope, Dallas...one of my favorite places. Reproduced in its entirety here...the word I needed so much, from Jo Hudson, one of my favorite people.

Come, let us sing to the LORD!

Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation. Psalm 95.1

Today is "No Diet Day!" Now, I don’t know who decides these things, but this is a day I can celebrate. "No Diet Day!" Can you imagine? As someone who has a love/hate relationship with food, I have spent much of my life dieting or planning to be on a diet. I’ve tried them all: Weight Watchers, Nutri-Systems, Low-Carb, and Low-Fat. Well, now that I think of it, I probably haven’t tried every diet, especially when you consider the number of diets that are advertised each evening on television. Still, I’ve tried enough diets to be able to say that I can truly celebrate "No Diet Day!"

Then I got to thinking: I wonder what makes us so obsessed about food. Yes, weight is important in so far as it can impact our health and our quality of life, but why is it that we, as a people, are so utterly obsessed with food. Could it be that we are trying to meet our spiritual needs by filling ourselves up with food? Are we obsessed with dieting because we have put so much emphasis on youth and glamour instead of honoring who we are as children of God, loved for who we are, as we are?

So, I wonder what would happen if we went on a "God-diet." Instead of trying to starve ourselves or take a pill or have surgery in order to have the "perfect" body, what if we spent time thanking God for the life we have, the body that houses our soul, the food that nourishes us and gives us life? What if instead of spending time obsessing about food, our weight and our looks we spent it in praise to God?

The Psalmist invites us to sing and shout joyfully to God. Maybe that is the diet we need: Praising God. Can you imagine what would happen if we turned our desperate obsession with our physiques into an obsession for praising God, being in relationship with God, and thanking God for all our blessings? I think it would change everything about us and how we feel about our bodies and our lives.

So, on this "No Diet Day" I’m going to let go of all the diets and obsession with food and calories and spend my day on a "God diet." Won’t you join me?

Holy One, just for today, remind me that I am precious in your sight, just as I am, and I will give you the praise and thanksgiving.  Amen.

Rev. Dr. Jo Hudson

Rector & Senior Pastor

Cathedral of Hope, Dallas

A piece of broiled fish

Over at RevGals' Eleventh Hour Preacher Party, the preachers are gearing up for their various mornings/afternoons/days of sermon writing.  Several are talking about the gospel, partially reproduced here:

Luke 24:36b-48
24:36b While they were talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you."

24:37 They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost.

24:38 He said to them, "Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts?

24:39 Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have."

24:40 And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet.

24:41 While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, "Have you anything here to eat?"

24:42 They gave him a piece of broiled fish,

24:43 and he took it and ate in their presence.

I love the question that Kathryn posted at Tuesday's Lectionary Leanings, the RGBP preliminary discussion:  "Perhaps this week it's time to ask our congregations what are their equivalents to the piece of broiled fish...what real, concrete behaviours might demonstrate unequivocally to a dubious world that Jesus is alive in his followers."

That's the big question, no?  What does it take to prove something like a resurrection of the body?  I hope to read some good sermons on this later today, and to hear one tomorrow. 

Forewarned:  I'm taking this in a personal & non-theological direction (I think). 

It might not come as a surprise to regular readers here that I have food issues.  I've talked occasionally about exercise and Weight Watchers.  Over the years my various behaviors have included eating too much, eating too little, eating odd things at strange times, you get the picture & you don't want the details. 

The food issues also manifest in feeding issues, which go back in my family for a few generations.  "I love you, therefore I feed you things that you like, and then you are happy and then I am happy."  yeah.  How's that for a whole story I made up in my head!?  (I have written before about Byron Katie and the stories we tell ourselves.  It has been a transformative process for me to use her Work to look at every issue and problem I have with other people as MINE, my thoughts about them being the thing  I can learn from.) 

Where I do NOT have trouble with food is when I eat and cook with other people.  It's when I'm alone that things get wonky. 

And so from the story of Jesus eating the fish with the peeps, I receive the reinforcement that we are meant to be in community; eating, working, worshipping.  Sometimes when I am distressed I hide away; and that does not serve anyone well.  I have to get out: for exercise, for meals with friends, for church, for eating togther (which can include coffee or a beer),  for fellowship.  It's in the simple acts of being part of a group that I am able to be made whole. 

Jesus showed his disciples that he was still part of their group, and that they needed to carry on as a group. 

Here's a nice quote from a BBC news article that helps to sum it up: 

But what is interesting is that with both Christian and Jewish faiths, the focal celebration and worship surrounds a meal. We say grace before a meal because food is a gift from God.

But it is about more than just the physical diet. It is also about the spiritual diet. The Christian faith takes a holistic view.

My procrastination for the day (or maybe just the first!) :  Due to conversation in the comments at the Preacher Party, I spent a lot of time googling strings like "what did Jesus eat" and "ancient israel fish recipe."  None of them called for broiling, but maybe that disconnect comes from the fact that, to me, broiling means putting it into an oven and heating from the top down.  Without an oven...with the cooking apparatus the disciples had - maybe frying would have been a close approximation.  Therefore I give you this recipe for Sayyadieh, Fisherman's Fish with Rice. 

4 Tbs. olive oil

3 medium onions, finely chopped

900 ml / 1-1/2 pints water

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. ground cumin

1 kg / 2-1/4 lb. fillets cod, coley, haddock, hake or other non-oily fish

450 g / 1 lb. long-grain rice

50 g / 2 oz. pine nuts

the juice of one lemon

Heat 3 tablespoons of the oil in a large saucepan, and fry the onions until brown. Add the water, salt and cumin. Simmer until the onions have almost melted. Add the fish and cook gently for 10 minutes. Remove fish and keep warm. Now take from the stock in which the fish has been cooked sufficient to cook the rice in a separate pan until it is tender and the stock absorbed. Spoon the rice into a shallow dish and lay the fish pieces on top. Gently fry the pine nuts in the remaining tablespoon of oil until tender, and scatter them over the fish. Meanwhile simmer and reduce the remaining stock, adding the juice of a lemon. Pour this over the fish and rice or serve it separately in a small jug. Serves 4-6.

 

I do have a friend who is an expert in foods from the time of Jesus and will pose this question to him...see if he has another idea. 

Ciao!

The Cooking and the Panties

This weekend I made two new recipes that I'll share. 

The first was  HungryGirl remake of the infamous Seven Layer Dip (which I could cheerfully eat a whole dish of by myself, thanks!)   The Skinny version includes Boca soy crumbles instead of meat and steamed butternut squash, mashed with taco seasoning, instead of...guacamole?  Black beans instead of refried...etc.  It was good, though it was clearly not exactly the Seven Layer Dip that has 10 WW Points per cup.   The light version?  1 Point per cup.  8 Points for the whole dang dish.  As a volume eater...this makes me happy!!!  With baked chips, this made a dandy supper for me while watching the Super Bowl.  (I did NOT eat the whole dish!)  And my husband tasted it but declined to eat any more.   It would be good as burrito filling, too, or just with a spoon.  Yum! 

I also made Jennifershmoo's Full Meal Muffins from The Vegan Lunchbox (a big hat tip to Mindy for the connect!)  I worked out the WW Points first and found that each muffin would be 3 Points - not bad for a hearty snack.  Then, I forgot to buy the walnuts and made the muffins without them - so they are actually only 2 points per!  I've frozen them individually and put some in the office and home freezers.  This will help out on those afternoons when I have forgotten to pack a nutritious snack and feel as though I will be gnawing my arm off soon!  I also just used the white flour/whole wheat flour substitution - didn't want to buy 2 new kinds of flour for a recipe I might hate!  But I'll try those soon.  Maybe one at a time. 

And, speaking of Mindy:  It's Pantipalooza time again!  The Fourth Annual!

     

As Mindy says:  "Palooza is simple. You are going to chose some woman, women or a women's group that can benefit from something you can donate or do and then...you DO it.

Remember....everyone can play and you can adapt the palooza to how you see fit. It is not restricted to just panties. In previous years it has included scarfs, shoes, diapers, toiletries and many other things. On my thankfulness list, I always list panties. They really are such a blessing. Most of us have washers and dryers so we always have a fresh clean supply of panties. If not, most of us can hit the nearest Wally World and pick us up a pair! But, there are some women in our lives that do not have that option...that blessing. For some reason or other, life has been hard on them. Be it abuse, poverty, hurricanes or whatever....so it it up to us to make a difference! "

Join in the fun.  Think of a person or group to help and share the love this Valentine's Day!