Savory Pie

Last night we held our annual pie night. Since I didn't feel like veering off my pie-making binge for dinner, I made a savory pie for dinner.


uncooked pie shell
1 lb ground sausage
2c gravy (can use bullion or from a package if desired)
1/2 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic
2+ cups assorted veggies (we used carrots and cauliflower, but anything's great)
salt and pepper
grated cheese (I used monteray jack)


Fry sausage until well crumbled. As the juices come out, add in onion and cook until soft and golden. Add garlic and other veggies, as well as salt and pepper to taste. Cook until everything starts to soften a little. Pour all into pie shell, pour in gravy, and sprinkle top with 1+ c cheese (depending how much you like!)
Bake at 350 for around 20 min--long enough to cook crust and get cheese melted and golden.

This one was really popular at pie night! I'll have to make it again!

Acorn Squash Soup

1 acorn squash, cut off rind and chop into medium chunks.
Over medium heat, bring one quart of milk to a gentle boil. Add acorn squash chunks as milk heats.
Add around 1Tbs salt, 1 tsp pepper, 1 tsp cinnamon, and 1/2 tsp nutmeg.
Stir until spices are mixed in.
When squash is soft, scoop into a bowl or blender and pulvarize the squash into some of the milk. Remix all back together in the pan.

Oatmeal is Awesome

Beware, for this post contains several hidden recipes!

I love oatmeal. It is so versitile! It is also a lactagogue (meaning that it increases milk supply for nursing mothers) so that is just an extra bit of grooviness right there!

Here are some of my favorite things to do with oatmeal:
**standard cooked oatmeal for breakfast.
**coconut oatmeal one can of coconut milk, 2 c of rolled oats, soak overnight in the fridge. In the morning, heat on the stove, adding a little additional milk as needed for texture. Quicker and sweeter than regular oatmeal.
**in fruit crisps, cobblers, and dutch apple pie topping.
**in muffins and breads.

Leftover oatmeal is just as good! It makes a delicious and hearty addition to pancakes, waffles or muffins. My 7yo is also fond of 'oatmeal pancakes' wherein I add a little flour to the leftover, congealed oatmeal, and then make patties and fry them up in a little butter. Serve like pancakes, with syrup or jam. Yum!

Peli Cheesesteak

One leftover potroast, sliced thin
One large onion, thinly sliced
Spices
Mozzarella cheese
Homemade rolls

Saute the onion in a little oil and some spices (I cheated and used the 'steak rub' from costco) until it is soft. Grate the cheese. Fry the beef lightly with the onion until browned on both sides.
Slice a roll, lay in a piece of hot meat, sprinkle on a goodly pile of cheese, then a nice heap of onions. Close roll. Devour with gusto.

It's not quite a philly cheesesteak...but dang it was good!

Halibut Yumminess

1 chunk of halibut (enough for the family...I used about 3 lbs, but it's cheaper here since it's caught locally!)
butter
tarragon
garlic salt (or garlic and salt)

Over med-high heat, melt the butter in a fry pan. Use at least several tablespoons of butter. Lay in the thawed fish, and sprinkle generously with tarragon, garlic, and salt. Cover and sizzle for about 3 minutes. Turn fish over, and cook, uncovered, until fish gets golden and crusty in the butter. Add more butter as needed. Turn again to make sure it's golden on both sides and that the herbs spread all over.
Eat it while it's hot!
Revel in the yumminess.

I wish I had a picture of this. It was so pretty! We ate it with garlic and olive oil couscous and mixed steamed veggies on the side.

Monkey French Toast

OK, so we'll start with the up-front honesty and just admit that I mostly stole this from Rachel Ray.

This is a stuffed french toast--that means you make some goomp to put in the middle, then squish it between two pieces of bread, then dip the 'sandwich' in the eggy stuff and fry it up...

MONKEY GOOMP (the stuffing part)
2 bananas
1/3-1/2 c peanut butter
a large drizzle of honey (maybe 1/4 c?)

Mix it together--a food processor works well, or an electric mixer...don't put it in the blender like I did the first time. You will regret it. Trust me. And mashing by hand won't get it very smooth.

If you're feeling health conscious, put it on wheat bread. If you're me, remind yourself that it's french toast, and supposed to be light, and put it on sprouted wheat or even *gasp* white. :-)


I should mention that I do not like bananas, nor most things with peanut butter in them...but I like this.

Ultimate Fruit Smoothie

A smoothie needs four things:
Something liquid
Something frozen
Something sweet
Something flavorful

I combine by using fresh fruit (flavor), frozen fruit (flavor, frozen), frozen juice concentrate (sweet, frozen), and yogurt or whole milk (liquid). (Sometimes I use yogurt AND milk, depending on the other ingredients and the proportions.) I don't like to use ice cubes, as that waters-down the flavor.
It is worth mentioning that not all fruits are created equal in the world of smoothies. I have found that grapes and melons make pretty poor smoothies. Apples give a strange texture if they are fresh, but are a great addition when frozen. Apple and grape juice concentrates are the best sweeteners--white grape and apple will not affect the flavor much either.

I love throwing a banana into almost any mixture. They are heathy, cheap, and add nice texture to a smoothie. I use them fresh at first, then they start getting a little brown, I put them in the freezer and use them frozen.

I start with a half cup or so of plain yogurt in the bottom of the blender, then add fresh fruit, then frozen fruit, then sweetener, then pour enough milk to just barely cover everything. (Note, if you have a lot of soft or juicy fruit, use less milk!)

Some favorite combinations:

Fresh peaches, frozen strawberries

Fresh kiwi, frozen strawberries, (can add fresh or frozen banana)

Banana and strawberry--either one fresh or frozen

Fresh raspberries, frozen apple

Fresh cherries, frozen apple, optional banana

Any mixture of berries

If you want to feel inspired, go down and look at the yogurt in the grocery store--any fruit combination that they make there is bound to be even better in a smoothie!