Whiteley Creek Homestead

Grocery store aisles hold little treasures.  

The smallest reusable, plastic bowl cover in this set perfectly covers a custard cup or beverage glass. The largest covers a mixing bowl.

Last Saturday, I bought two packages of local grass-fed ground beef. One pound was destined to be formed into meatballs simmered in homemade pasta sauce.   

 
After tearing an Italian Meatballs recipe from a January 16, 2011 issue of Parade, a mini publication that is included in our local newspaper, the prep began with making bread crumbs from French Meadow Bakery Hemp Bread* using a food processor and grating Parmesan cheese. *Ingredients: filtered water, organic whole wheat flour with wheat germ, hempseed flour, organic flax meal, organic poppy seeds, organic oat fiber, dates, organic pumpkin seeds, organic millet, hemp seeds, organic sunflower seeds, organic cracked wheat, organic sprouted kamut, organic sprouted spelt berries, organic sesame seeds, sea salt, organic sprouted barley, organic sprouted amaranth berries, and organic sprouted quinoa. French Meadow Bakery is located is Eagan, Minnesota (a Minneapolis suburb). 

Italian Meatballs

1 cup bread crumbs (2 slices bread processed in food processor until crumbly)

½ cup water

2 eggs

¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese

handful of fresh spinach, kale, Swiss chard, or collards, diced (my addition)

1 onion, minced and sautéed until translucent (my addition)

2 cloves garlic, minced (my addition)

1 tsp dried parsley

¼ ½ tsp dried oregano

½ tsp garlic powder (my addition)

1 tsp salt

Dash pepper

1 lb grass-fed ground beef or ground bison

2 tbsp olive oil

Homemade Heat and Eat Tomato Pasta Sauce

Combine bread crumbs, water, eggs, cheese, greens, onion, garlic, and seasonings. Add meat; mix well. Form into balls. (I used a generous tablespoon for each meatball which produced 32 balls.) Heat oil and brown meatballs. Drain, if ground beef or bison isn’t extra lean. The recipe’s next step was to cover and simmer the meatballs in pasta sauce for 30 to 40 minutes. I found that too much of the sauce evaporated away, so what I would suggest is to skip the browning step and bake the meatballs at 350° for 25-30 minutes, then add them to heated sauce. Serve over pasta or spaghetti squash.

As we walked our property in late July/early August last summer, Dick and I marveled at the abundance of bright green clusters of native hazelnuts growing on huge bushes that formed hedgerows along a roadside. We regularly checked on them, until one day, we knew harvest time was near… just a few more days. 

 
 
Then, in horror, we found the bushes stripped bare! The squirrels had gotten to them before us. The squirrels know such things. They gather them before they are fully mature to assure that they are one step ahead of humans. Humans are intelligent creatures, too. We know that hazelnuts (aka filberts) come conveniently packaged ready-to-eat… and there will be yet another year to outsmart the squirrels… maybe netting placed over the bushes.

 
Banana Hazelnut Muffins

From Smart Muffins by Jane Kinderlehrer

2 eggs

2 bananas (about ¾ cup)

3 tbsp honey or molasses

2 tbsp olive oil

½ cup yogurt or buttermilk

1 ¼ cups sifted whole wheat pastry flour

2 tbsp oat bran

2 tbsp wheat germ

2 tbsp wheat bran

½ tsp cinnamon

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

chopped hazelnuts

In a mixing bowl, blend together the eggs, bananas, honey or molasses, oil, and yogurt or buttermilk. In another bowl, mix together the dry ingredients. Preheat oven to 400°. Oil the bottoms of 12 regular-size muffin pan cups or line them with paper baking cups. Combine the dry ingredients with the wet, mixing briefly only until no flour is visible. Spoon the batter into the muffin cups. Top each muffin with chopped hazelnuts. Bake for 18-20 minutes until the tops are golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes, then remove to a wire rack. Yield: 12 muffins.

As much as I cringe when I see Christmas merchandise displayed in stores before we've devoured the last few pieces of Halloween's candy corn, I have learned to shift my own thinking to the next holiday a bit farther in advance. This yogurt-based "Raspberry Fool" from Ellie Krieger's The Food You Crave would be a perfect Valentine's Day dessert.

       
 
“Fool” is a dish made of crushed or puréed fruit mixed with cream. Options: In the left photo, I used undrained Greek yogurt. In the right photo, I drained the whey from regular yogurt which produces a thicker consistency. Both end products result in a refreshing, nutritious dessert.   

Raspberry Fool

1 ½ cups vanilla yogurt (I used Kalona Supernatural Vanilla Yogurt which has only 6 g sugar.) I have also used plain yogurt to reduce the recipe's sugar content. Naturally, it produces a bit more tart end product but still sweet enough.

1 10-ounce package frozen unsweetened raspberries, thawed (I used 1/2 pkg to puree + fresh raspberries to fold in and garnish.)

1/3 cup powdered sugar, sifted

¼ cup well-chilled heavy cream

Place yogurt in a strainer lined with a paper towel or natural, unbleached cheesecloth. Let it drain and thicken in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours and up to 1 day. (I drained it for 1 1/2 hours and called it good.) Discard the liquid (whey). *Save the liquid for another use (e.g. add to a smoothie or replace some of the liquid in muffins or bread) and set the thickened yogurt aside. (Alternatively, you can use Greek yogurt and skip the draining step. It just won't be quite as thick. See photos above.) Process 1/2 pkg thawed raspberries in a food processor until smooth. Transfer the purée to a fine mesh strainer and strain it into a large bowl pressing the liquid out with a rubber spatula. Discard the seeds. Whisk in the powdered sugar. Gently stir in remaining 1/2 package of raspberries. In a chilled medium bowl, whip the cream with an electric mixer until soft peaks are formed. Gently fold in the yogurt and the raspberry mixture. Fold in fresh raspberries. Spoon the fool into stemmed glasses and chill, covered with plastic wrap, for at least an hour and up to 1 day. Garnish with fresh raspberries, if desired. Serves 4. Serving size: ½ cup. *See Curds and Whey post.

My tomato sauce journey began in November when I ordered a pasta dish at a restaurant in Montclair, New Jersey. I could barely carry on a conversation but to say, "This is good"… "oh, this is good"… "ummmm, this is so good!" I set out to recreate it in my own kitchen with only my taste buds to guide me. I think I have recaptured its flavor and come quite close to what I remember. I began with a homemade tomato sauce Internet search that led me to cooks.com where I chose a  "Homemade Spaghetti/Pasta Sauce" recipe using a can of crushed tomatoes, tomato puree, tomato paste, and a variety of seasonings. It looked promising until I read the recipe's final sentence. "Cook for at least 6 hours on low heat." Well, I knew that just wasn't going to happen since my spaghetti squash was already baking and I needed the sauce when it came out of the oven. What I gleaned from the cooks.com recipe were the seasonings… garlic powder, onion powder, parsley, dried basil, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper.

 
 
Next, I printed off a "Five Minute Tomato Sauce" recipe from Heidi Swanson's 101cookbooks blog and my daughter Lisa emailed me a recipe for "The Simplest Tomato Sauce Ever" from The Essentials of Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan. Both of these recipes were encouraging in that they went together in minutes and the cooking time consisted of heating the sauce… that's it. Heat and eat. Let me preface my critique of Heidi's recipe by saying that I LOVE her recipes. They are consistently keepers and I am looking forward to the release of her new cookbook Super Natural Every Day which will be released on April 5, 2011. However, Dick and I felt Heidi's tomato sauce recipe was too spicy hot for our taste. I even reduced the crushed red pepper flakes to 1 tsp instead of 1 1/2 tsp and it was still too "water, water, I need water" hot. I took three things from her recipe… canned crushed tomatoes, like in the cooks.com recipe, olive oil, and optional heavy cream. In the recipe Lisa shared with me, butter was an ingredient which added a richness  that I remember tasting in the restaurant dish. My recipe was now beginning to come together.

I decided to title my recipe "Homemade Heat and Eat Tomato Sauce" because the prep and cooking time is equivalent to opening a jar of Ragu… but don't. The next time I have the opportunity to eat at the Montclair, New Jersey restaurant, I will compare my tomato pasta sauce version with theirs to see how closely I have replicated it. Until then, I will contentedly use my recipe to serve atop spaghetti squash and pasta… plain and with meatballs or meat sauce.   
  
 

Homemade Heat and Eat Tomato Pasta Sauce

1 tbsp olive oil or butter

3 medium cloves garlic, diced

1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes (e.g. Muir Glen Organic)

½ tsp dried oregano

½ tsp dried basil

½ tsp Italian seasoning

¼ tsp garlic powder

½ tsp sea salt

pepper to taste

heavy cream, optional

Sauté minced garlic in olive oil for about a minute or so being careful not to brown the garlic. Add the remaining ingredients and heat to a gentle simmer. This takes just a couple minutes. Remove from the heat and eat. To make the sauce extra rich, stir in a splash of heavy cream.

An orange is elevated to dessert status with this simple cinnamon, citrus. honey flavored drizzle from EatingWell's web site. It paired perfectly with bowls of leftover Kale Quinoa Black Bean Soup. 

Honey Cinnamon Oranges

4 navel oranges

2 tbsp orange juice

2 tbsp lemon juice

1 tbsp sugar 2 tbsp honey

¼ tsp cinnamon

Remove rind and pith from oranges. Cut each into 5 or 6 slices and arrange on four plates. Whisk together orange juice, lemon juice, honey, and cinnamon. Spoon over the orange slices.

Dick bought me a 20-piece knife and block set for Christmas and am I loving it! I have not previously had the variety of knives that I have now, so I am learning to match each knife with their intended purpose. This chop 'n serve knife is thus far my all-time favorite. It allows me to chop, dice, slice, and mince in record time and the flat side of the knife scoops the veggies into the pot, pan, or skillet.

I made a pot of soup today using my knife to chop fresh kale harvested from a nearby farm and dice garlic cloves as well as the veggies shown on my handmade hickory slab chopping block. I normally use my mini food processor to slice carrots, but the knife works well for this purpose, too.

Kale Quinoa Black Bean Soup

So much goodness… from a free copy of Delicious Living Magazine that I picked up at a health food store this week. 

1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

1 large yellow onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, diced

4 (4-inch) sprigs fresh rosemary (Instead I used 1 tsp dried basil, ½ tsp leaf oregano, and ½ tsp leaf marjoram.)

8 cups water (I used 4 cups chicken broth + 4 cups water, but you could sub veggie broth or carrot juice for the chicken broth.)

3 low-sodium vegetable bouillon cubes (I omitted.)

1 or 2 large carrots, sliced or chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

1 leek, diced (white and light green parts) I omitted.

1 potato, chopped (I used a sweet potato.)

1 – 2 large handfuls kale (about 10 ounces) Trim and discard center ribs, then stack leaves and chop into small pieces.

1/3 cup buckwheat groats (I subbed 1 cup organic red heirloom variety quinoa.)

1 can black beans, drained (My addition… nice. Adzuki beans, which are also called aduki beans, are another nutritious alternative.)

In soup pot, sauté onion in oil until it softens slightly and begins to turn translucent. Add garlic during the final two minutes.  Do not let garlic brown.  Add chicken broth and water to pot and heat until it begins to boil. Add remaining ingredients except beans, turn heat down to simmer, and cook for 20 minutes. Ladle into bowls. Season to taste with salt and pepper. (I used Johnny’s seasoning salt and garlic pepper.)      

Dick is usually the one craving chocolate, but today it was me. Kristen Suzanne's Easy Raw Desserts kristensraw.com provided an easy peasy recipe for a chocolate glaze sweetened with agave nectar. Suzanne suggested serving it over her recipe for Raw Vanilla Bean Ice Cream made with cashews, a vanilla bean, coconut water, coconut meat, and agave nectar. I will try this one day, but I chose to make soft serve ice cream by simply running a frozen banana through my Champion Juicer by swapping out the screen with a solid insert. (More often, I use my mini food processor because its rapid cleanup.) This ice cream is so yummy by itself or with pureed fresh fruit topping, but drizzled with glaze it was way too sweet. The glaze is most definitely a keeper, but I would suggest drizzling it over slices of banana then top with a sprinkling of chopped walnuts. Soooo good! My cheery ice cream cups can be purchased in my daughter Jessie's online fort & field shop.  

Agave Chocolate Glaze

¼ cup agave nectar

1 tbsp raw carob powder (I used raw organic cacao powder. The brand I have is Navitas.)

2 tsp extra virgin olive oil

¼ tsp rum extract (I omitted.)

dash ¼ tsp vanilla

pinch cinnamon (I omitted.)

Blend all of the ingredients together. Drizzle over sliced bananas, then top with a sprinkling of chopped walnuts. Use restraint as a little sweetness goes a long way. You just need a touch of goodness.