A Loaded Grilled Cheese

I'm not a big sandwich person, but when I crave one. . .all I want is a really good grilled cheese! This one was made on my favorite bread - Aldi's Everything Bagel Sourdough. I used 1 slice each of Swiss and American, 3 thin slices of deli roast beef, spread the inside with homemade pesto, added thin sliced tomato and onion.

I fried it fast in EVOO in a hot pan then took it off the heat after flipping, covered and let it finish doing it's melting thing.  The peppers and cucumbers were a nice fresh addition. . .Lin

Chicken and Pesto-Avocado Toast

I made some great pesto recently that I combined with a mashed avocado and some chopped pea microgreens.

This was delicious on Aldi's Everything Bagel Sourdough Bread, toasted. I added a little roasted chicken, cucumber and tomato - peppered and garlic salted - for an excellent lunch. . .Lin

Swedish Pizza Salad

Have you heard of this?

Apparently in Sweden, this is served along with every pizza ordered in restaurants there. It makes total sense to me since it would balance out the starch and grease in the pizza quite nicely. I Googled it and there are a few variations. This is mine. . .I added carrot, and really struggled with NOT adding onion, since I love that in everything! (except maybe strawberry ice cream. . .or chocolate cake 😁)

Combine in a large glass bowl:

1/2 of a sm.-med. heavy head of white cabbage - finely sliced

1 lg. carrot - shredded

Dressing:

3T single source EVOO

3T white vinegar

2T fresh lemon juice

1T dry oregano

1T sugar

1-1/2t salt, garlic, pepper blend

I whisked these ingredients together but the oregano was stubborn, so I blended it on high for about 30 seconds. Pour it over the vegetables, mix gently then refrigerate at least an hour or overnight before serving.

I made a chicken, tomato, zucchini, mushroom, pesto alfredo sauce, cheese, pasta casserole just before this, that turned out great, according to the tiny little test bowl I tried. I'll serve both of these to some special people visiting me tomorrow. . .Lin

Lemon Blender Cupcakes

I've been on a quest for the perfect whole lemon blender cake recipe for cupcakes or a lemon pound cake. I found one I like the sound of but also made several changes. Here's what I was able to create. Preheat your oven to 350°

Put this first group into your blender jar and blend until smooth:
1 whole thin-skinned seedless lemon. . .
~ scrub, cut off the ends
~ then cut it in about 16 pieces
3 lg. pasture raised eggs
1-1/2c organic cane sugar
1/2c Chobani whole milk plain Greek yogurt
3/4c single source EVOO
2t pure vanilla

In a large glass bowl, stir together:
2c Caputo (Italian) Chef's Flour. . .
~ or a good American all purpose flour like King Arthur's
1T baking powder
1/2t Himalayan pink salt

Pour the lemon, egg, oil, sugar mixture into the dry ingredient bowl. Stir-scrape-mix together with a silicone spatula until all the flour is incorporated.

Pour into 24 paper-lined muffin cups and sprinkle the tops with coarse sugar. I used turbinado sugar for this and it added just the right amount of sweetness and crunch. Bake for about 20 minutes. Check with a toothpick. Mmmm, they're really good!! Lin

Broccoli-Cauliflower Chopped Salad

I've always love a great broccoli salad that others have made. For some reason, I've only attempted it a few times. I decided to make this one for our block party-potluck last night, for National Night Out. I loved it, and surprisingly, it was the only salad! Seems my neighbors are really into desserts and chips. Now, the day after making this, I realize I wasn't paying a lot of attention to exact amounts, so. . .trust your instincts 😉

SALAD:

1c+ slivered almonds - toasted
1 sm. Romaine lettuce

3c± broccoli + cauliflower florets

~ chopped or broken apart

1/2 med. purple onion

4 stalks celery

1c+ raisins - purple or golden

DRESSING:

1c olive oil mayonnaise

1/4c apple cider vinegar

2T raw organic local honey

1/2t black + cayenne pepper

1t Lawry's Garlic Salt

Toast the almonds. I started with a dry stainless steel pan but not much happened until I drizzled on a little toasted sesame oil! They browned up nicely and the oil added even more toasted flavor. Wash, spin and chop the Romaine into small pieces, slice the onion into short thin pieces. Finely chop the celery, stir in the raisins. 

Whisk the dressing together in a small bowl, taste it and make any additions you'd like then pour over the salad. Toss, mixing well. Chill an hour or longer before serving. This one is a keeper, and it travels well too. . .Lin

Healthy Fat and Protein Toast

I'm really picky about bread and try to keep it minimal in my diet. So when I do indulge, it has to be something really special. My all time favorite bread for sandwiches and toast is Aldi's Everything Bagel Sourdough Bread. Excellent!

Take a big piece of that, toast it and spread it with the following combination. This makes enough for two breakfasts.

1 lg. pasture raised egg - hard boiled

1 sm. avocado

a little spicy mustard

a big or little sprinkle of garlic salt

a big or little shake of a black and cayenne pepper blend

several tablespoons of EVOO or toasted sesame oil

finely chopped green onion

Mash everything together and spread on the toast pieces. Serve with sliced tomatoes, cucumbers or fruit.

After I made this I realized a couple sardines would also be great in this. I'll add those before breakfast tomorrow. Buy the good kind, in EVOO, not that soy stuff. If you don't eat all of them, combine them with your cat or dog's food and they'll love it! . . Lin

Blueberry-Banana-Orange Frozen Yogurt

1c - 230g Chobani whole milk plain Greek yogurt
1c - 150g frozen blueberries
1 sm. Mandarin orange
1 sm. - med. banana
a pinch of salt
1-2t± vanilla bean paste
1-2T raw organic honey

Combine everything -blending well on high- in your blender jar. If the ingredients don't move initially, wait a while until they thaw, but don't add any juice or milk. This 'ice cream' freezes rock hard as is, but would be even more solid with additional liquid.**

Blueberries and bananas seem to be the perfect base! Every frozen yogurt I've started this way has turned out so well, and this combination is excellent. . .Lin
**this is best after about 4 hours of freezer time

Chicken and Mushroom Curry -and- Bone Broth

Lately I've been hitting home runs, touchdowns, goals (at least in my opinion) with chicken recipes. It helps that chicken will probably always be my favorite meat to cook and eat. It's such a great blank canvas! Today this happened from a necessity to use 12oz. of mushrooms that were really wanting to hop into a pot of something savory.

I also roasted 3.25# of chicken thighs early today (to beat the predicted heat heading our way). A couple weeks ago, I bought a rotisserie chicken that I skinned and boned, but decided not to make broth at that time.

Once I removed the meat, I froze everything else for future bone broth.

All those bones and skin also went into this morning's pot, in addition to a big package of Chicken Feet, all now simmering into some really good dog-and-cat friendly broth for me and my furry boys.

This morning's chicken yielded about 18oz. of great meat that I divided into three 6oz. packages, using one and freezing the other two. At $1.66/pound, that I paid for this package of chicken, this breaks down to an actual cost of $4.80/pound of roasted meat. To me, (all my years of Home Economics coming to the forefront) this illustrates the necessity of using every part of each piece of the chicken whenever possible. So rather than throwing away the skin and bones. . .I make bone broth.

Now for the Curry!

12oz. whole mushrooms - sliced
2-3 T toasted sesame oil

~ Saute the mushrooms until they're golden brown, then add:

1/3c Marsala cooking wine

1c frozen and fresh sprouted peas
1 sm.-med. chopped purple onion
1/2c finely sliced garlic scapes

~ Saute this a few minutes then stir in:

6oz. roasted dark meat chicken
10oz. KFI Butter Chicken Curry Sauce - this is a very mild sauce - minimal heat but excellent flavor
3oz. thin rice noodles-prepared according to package directions and drained.

This turned out so well just as is, but for a little more dimension, you could also add 1/3c natural crunchy peanut butter and a handful of raisins or other chopped dried fruit.

This type of curry is more a winter food for most people. However, I've found that I love soups and things similar to this all year 'round. . .Lin

Chicken, Rice, Mushrooms and Greens - Casserole or Soup

This began as an interesting idea for soup but instead turned into more of a casserole.

With the addition of some sauteed celery, a can of diced tomatoes and some chicken bone broth, that might still happen in a couple days. . .but for now, it's really delicious the way it is.

12oz. white mushrooms - sliced

1/3 yellow onion - finely chopped

2T toasted sesame oil

2T ghee or butter

Stir and saute the mushrooms and onion together until lightly browned, then add:

1/4c Marsala cooking wine
chopped stems from a bunch of beet greens
the other 2/3 of the onion - rough chopped

Stir and saute everything a few minutes whisk together the first 3 ingredients, then add:

4oz. Lemon Artichoke Pesto (Walmart)
another 1/4c Marsala cooking wine
1/2c water

1 bunch sliced beet greens
1 pkg. Lemon & Herb Rice (Aldi)
8oz. chopped rotisserie chicken

Season with garlic salt, black and cayenne pepper. Cover and simmer on low heat until the greens are wilted. . .Lin

Simple Cabbage Salad

This sounded SO good to me, any variation of coleslaw always does! It went together in no time, since other than dressing there are only 3 ingredients. Thinly slice the following into a medium glass bowl:

1 lightweight head of green cabbage
~ tight heavy heads aren't as flavorful
1 med. Vidalia onion
1 med. carrot

Toss with my Lemon Olive Oil type vinaigrette and a little poppy seed dressing. Toss a couple times while it marinates, an hour or longer.

This is so good -just as is- or use it as a base for other ingredients. I did that just now, adding: chopped grape tomatoes, radishes, Italian flat leaf parsley and some rotisserie chicken. Just perfect for lunch on a summer day. . .Lin

LOADED Avocado Spread - for avocado toast

I just got my CSA farm box yesterday. Additionally my freezer is packed, as is my 'fridge.
Blessings of riches for sure, but the quantity of food in my house right now is over the top!

The 6 little avocados I bought last week went from rock hard to perfect in a day or two. I like them less ripe than most people, so they went into the 'fridge immediately. . .where they continued to ripen and soften! I decided to use 2 today then saw lots of other vegetables to add to the mix. . .

I often wish I could cook more simply but I doubt it will happen. As much as I admire all aspects of minimalism -so far- my brain just won't go or stay there.

So, for this recipe, it began with these ingredients all rough chopped into my blender jar:

2 stalks celery
2 medium carrots
2 roma tomatoes
6-8 garlic scapes
1/3 large green pepper
1 big garlic clove
1 bunch of basil
1 bunch flat leaf Italian parsley

Use a vegetable peeler to take only the bright yellow layer of the lemon peel and added all the juice. Add 2-3T spicy ranch dressing. Blend that until well combined.

In a medium bowl, finely chop 2 avocados. (yes, I used 2, the second is tucked in between the basil and the bottle of dressing) Add 3oz. of sharp flavored shredded cheese and 3oz. of finely chopped pistachios (or walnuts) Sprinkle with Himalayan pink salt. 

Pour in the blender contents, fold everything together until well combined. Some of the liquid rose to the top so I tilted the bowl and absorbed that with a bunched up paper towel. It was great on toasted sourdough bread but could also be served like salsa or guacamole with tortilla chips. . .Lin

Triple Coconut - Citrus Olive Oil Cake

This is a current redo of a recipe I concocted and posted 4 years ago that I named Mediterranean Olive Oil Cake. I discovered, sadly -AFTER- my trip to Italy, that a lemon version of this is a classic all over Italy and neighboring countries. Wish I had known this in 2005, I would have tried several variations while I was in Florence. It's a not-too-sweet cake perfect for morning coffee or tea, or anytime. . .

Preheat your oven to 350° In a large glass bowl, whisk together:

1c unbleached all purpose flour

1/2c coconut flour

1/2 Tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon Himalayan pink salt
1c shredded, sweetened coconut 

In your blender jar, blend the following on high until smooth:

1 whole seedless lemon
1 whole Cutie type Mandarin orange
~ scrub and cut the lemon and orange in pieces
~ removing the ends, centers and any seeds

3 lg. pasture raised eggs

3/4c coconut sugar
~ or dark brown sugar

1/2c single source EVOO
~ or if you'd rather. . .1/2c melted coconut oil

1/2c coconut milk

~ from a half-gallon carton or canned

3/4t pure vanilla

When the oven is preheated, pour the blender ingredients into the flour mixture in the big glass bowl. Stir and fold together until everything's well combined.

Pour the batter into an 9" x 11" glass baking pan that's been buttered and sugared for a sweet crunch on the crust! Bake at 350° for 35 minutes - check for doneness with a toothpick. Cool before slicing and serving. . .Lin

Avocado Crumpet

This was interesting.

The flavors were good, but the texture of the crumpet, that I double toasted, wasn't crispy enough, so this was more like an Avocado Pancake! I'll stick to toast, but the avocado spread turned out well. . .

Mash together:

1/2 of an almost ripe avocado
. . .I don't like these mushy. . .

1/4 finely chopped onion

a little strong dry cheese - chopped up

dried parsley

salt & pepper

mayonnaise

. . .or enough of a mayonnaise based dressing to hold everything together

When combined, spread this on toast, crackers, a crumpet or use it as a vegetable dip. Sprinkle with a little smokey paprika. Today it was a great breakfast with a sliced tiny tomato and part of a white salad turnip, both salted, savory and crunchy.

This is a great breakfast or lunch, no matter what time that happens for you. .  .Lin

Crunchy, Colorful Chopped Salad

Sometimes I just open my refrigerator. . .

to see what jumps up and says, 'pick me, pick me. . !'

So it was today. Earlier I made my tweaked version of Martha Stewart's Tuna and Apple Salad. I also wanted to make a crunchy vegetable salad. So this happened - and I had both for lunch. . .

1-2 ribs of celery and some greens

1-2 carrots (-or- part of 1 giant carrot)

1/4 sm.-med. purple cabbage

1 white spring turnip

1 purple shallot

Chop everything into a medium glass bowl. Toss with a little savory, herby vinegar and oil. To balance this, add a little sweet dressing such as poppy seed or French.

I picked at these two until there was only a little of each left, then I rolled it all up in that crispy cabbage leaf I used to line the bowl.

Wow, so good. . .My kind of lunch! . .Lin

Blueberry-Lemon Frozen Yogurt

In your blender jar combine:

1c frozen blueberries

1/4 whole seedless lemon - chopped

1c Chobani whole milk Greek yogurt

2T raw organic honey

a splash of pure vanilla

Pulse and blend everything together until it's as smooth as you like. Freeze in a 16oz. container until scoopable. For future servings, take this out of the freezer 20-30 minutes before serving since it freezes rock hard!

This is one of the best I've made yet!

I was organizing my freezer, came across the blueberries with only a couple cups inside. I almost pitched them and now I sure am glad I didn't!

I have enough to make this again. Instead of honey, I'll spice it up, with Jalapeno Jelly! 🔵 🌶 🍦 😃. . .Lin

A Fresh and Crunchy Egg Bowl Breakfast

I think my body needed protein today.

I woke up thinking EGGS!
Perfect since I have a couple dozen pasture raised; of excellent quality, from the Farmer's Market and an Asian Grocery in the cities; I simmered 9, chopped 3, gave one to my pup Oliver, mixed with some homemade chicken bone broth for a 2nd breakfast 😊

To my two I added; chopped avocado, a small tomato, green onion, a handful of pistachios and 3 Brazil nuts; for selenium that our thyroids need. Some frozen peas would also have been really delicious!

Then a little drizzle of my spicy current mayo-sour cream pepper-garlic-dill dressing and it was ready. Quick, easy and SO good! . 😃. .Lin

Lemon-Banana Frozen Yogurt

3/4c plain whole milk Greek yogurt

1 lg. banana - peeled 😉

1 lg. lemon - UNpeeled !!

2-3T organic raw honey

Chop the lemon, remove any seeds, then put all the ingredients in your blender jar and blend on high a minute or two.

The flavor of the banana is overpowered by the lemon, but it adds good texture. Freeze in a 1 pint container for about 4 hours. If it's in the freezer much longer, put it on the counter for a while to soften it to a scoopable consistency. These fruity frozen yogurts are a very flavorful and healthy ice cream alternative. . .Lin

Orange-Pineapple-Coconut Frozen Yogurt

I was organizing my freezer today and found a forgotten quart size ziplock of frozen pineapple. I decided to experiment but didn't pay a lot of attention to amounts. I'm blogging this in hopes of refining the details in the future when I attempt to duplicate it. So, for now, weights and measurements are in the 'best guess' category.

1 whole Cutie mandarin

2-3T raw organic honey

8oz. frozen pineapple

2T lemon juice
1-2t pumpkin pie spice
1c± whole milk plain Greek yogurt

1/2c canned coconut milk or coconut cream

~ ~ the thick kind that has to be spooned -not poured- out of the can

Cut the orange into little chunks, with the peeling on, into your blender jar. Add everything else and blend until smooth. Freeze in a 16oz. container.

Homemade ice cream and frozen yogurt freeze rock hard. Put the container on the counter a half hour or so before serving to soften it enough to scoop. . .Mmmm, the bright flavors of this were just perfect and although this is frozen yogurt, it tastes more like a fruity sherbet-sorbet. . .Lin

A Farmer's Market Vegetable Thing. . .

I finally made it to the Duluth Wednesday Farmer's Market. Oh, how sweet it was!

Then decided to make a vegetable casserole using some of this for a vegetable casserole with some other things I had in my 'fridge.

Some chicken bone broth that turned out great, 2 green onions, half a can of garbanzo bean and part of an orange bell pepper, 3 radishes and 3 white turnips.

All the hard vegetables were sauteed in a little ghee, then I added a big splash of cooking sherry and the chopped turnip leaves.

Just before gobbling this down, I also put in 3oz. of roasted chicken and a handful of pistachios. . .So good, and there's still lots leftover. . .Lin

Spicy-Yummy Tomato-ey Chicken Soup

I'm running out of names for recipes. This started out to be Chicken Fajita Soup, but evolved in a couple other directions before it was finished. The only 'mistake' I made this time was using Chili Tomatoes that were fire roasted. I didn't see that on the label until it was too late. The burnt flavor is what dominates, at least in this brand. 

Chop or slice the vegetables and saute in a generous amount of single source EVOO:

3/4 each - 1 lg. orange and green bell pepper
5 lg. garlic cloves
1-1/2 yellow onion
several celery heart stalks

~ I also added some mixed cabbage I had previously shredded: Napa cabbage, purple, green and a little shredded carrot.

Saute the vegetables only a short time, so they're still crisp, just enough to release their scents into your kitchen. Next add:

4oz. chopped sun-dried tomatoes + the oil they're packed in
chopped celery tops
28oz. seasoned crushed or diced tomatoes
1 (enormous) or 3 med. bay leaves
2 cans of corn - 1 drained, 1 w/liquid
1 lg. can 19oz. drained-rinsed black beans
12oz. roasted chicken
1 quart well-jelled chicken bone broth
2-3T powdered chicken bone broth base
1 pkg. Cilantro-Lime rice

Gently stir this all together then simmer 20 minutes. You can stir in 1c of sour cream now, or leave it out and just garnish each bowl with a big dab and some fresh cilantro leaves.

I still really don't know what to call this soup. . .Maybe Chicken Taco Soup. . .but whatever I call it, I like how it turned out! .😊. .Lin

Lemon-Rhubarb Muffins and Quick Bread **

I'm always on a quest to create a recipe for great muffins or quick breads. One that has texture and LOTS of good flavor. I think I've avoided banana and zucchini breads due to what I perceive as their blandness. This is another recipe where I typed everything I wanted to use into Google and A.I. gave me dry ingredient amounts and other suggestions. I varied it from what was given, of course, and this turned out so well! Preheat your oven to 335°

In a medium glass bowl, whisk together:

2c all purpose flour

1T pumpkin pie spice

1T baking powder

1t baking soda

1t Orange Salt

In your blender jar, blend the following:

1 lg. organic thin skinned lemon - whole then chopped

1c packed dark brown sugar

2 lg. pasture raised eggs

1/2c single source EVOO

1/2c full fat sour cream (or plain Greek yogurt)

1-2t pure vanilla extract

Before pouring the blender contents into the bowl, stir the following into the dry bowl:

1c rough chopped pecans

1-1/2c finely diced fresh rhubarb

Now stir in the wet ingredients. Fill silicone muffin molds and a greased loaf pan. Sprinkle the tops with spiced sugar. Today I used equal parts of turbinado, organic cane and coconut sugars, with a good amount of pumpkin pie spice, for my spiced sugar.

Bake the muffins for 25-30 minutes and the quick bread for an additional 5 minutes or until everything passes the toothpick test. Mmmm. . .Lin

** I made this recipe again today 7-30-26, and it turned out just perfect. The only change I made was to use a cut up mandarin in place of the lemon and baked the muffins in a metal paper-lined pan. 

Sweet and Spicy Chicken Salad

I made pull apart biscuits I thought they would pair nicely with some chicken salad for dinner tonight. So this happened. . .

Combine in a medium glass bowl:

1/3c± jalapeño jelly
~ warmed in the microwave

1/3c± EVOO mayonnaise
~ This sweet-spicy sauce was wonderful! ~

To this chop and add:
2 green onions
3 stalks celery heart
4oz. roasted dark meat chicken
cilantro, celery tops or parsley
a good shake of garlic salt

Using a silicone spatula, mix everything together. Pull apart some biscuits, slice some cucumbers, tomatoes, pickles or avocados on the side. . .Lin

Sandwiches!

Strangely, as an adult, sandwiches aren't something I eat often. 

Or pizza. . .Somehow, just typing this here feels oddly un-American - 

or maybe anti-Italian - neither of which apply to me!

As a child I didn't like peanut butter at all, but when pregnant with my son, I couldn't get enough PB&J's! One every day for lunch. Now, natural peanut butter and jalapeno jelly is great. . .Or some EVOO packed tuna made into crunchy tuna salad with lots of onion and celery.

And pizza. . .homemade with an interesting sauce, cheese, pepperoni and lots of chopped vegetables on a big tortilla is fun and delicious. Back to sandwiches. . .My absolute favorite - is a Grilled Cheese with Tomato and Onion 😋 on really good, healthy bread. Sourdough or my Focaccia or one of my Artisan breads, Mmmm.

These happened in the past couple days.

<———The first: Swiss+American cheese, sourdough bread, tomato, mashed avocado, seedy mustard, peppered deli turkey, onion, brushed generously with EVOO and 'grilled' in my heavy stainless frying pan.

The second, open faced, were on the last piece of the Focaccia I made recently with 1/3 corn flour. I don't think corn flour belongs in Focaccia. . .I'll stick to bread flour, or use rye or buckwheat flour for part of the total.

For these, I toasted the bread, then spread it with EVOO Mayonnaise, added a slice of an heirloom tomato, onion, cilantro and Swiss cheese ———>

Mmmmm. . .SO good, but then, I can't remember a nicely put together Grilled Cheese sandwich that I didn't love 😃

These both happened quickly and took care of the sandwich cravings. . .Lin

Roasting Chicken - For Meat And Bone Broth

Ahhhh, it's A Chicken Roasting Day!!!
One of my favorite days in the kitchen!

Today I washed and dried several pounds of chicken thighs (adding chicken feet later in the roasting process.) I then put the thigs in my 60 year old black speckled roasting pan. Drizzled with Moroccan EVOO and seasoned. Today my Rosemary Seasoning sounded good. This bone broth will be shared with my cat Henry and dog Oliver, so NO onion or garlic in any phase of prep.

When roasting chicken, I always do it the opposite of everyone else I know. I start with the chicken uncovered, for about an hour at 400° to brown it up, then turn the heat down to 350-375° and cover for the rest of the oven time. Today, the total time was just under 2 hours with the feet added after I reduced the temperature. Check the brownness of the thighs, occasionally poking them with a fork and basting everything.

Then the covered pot cooled, on my back deck where it was 52° and shady. Once cool enough to handle, I removed all the meat to package for future use.

It was back-to-the-pot for all the skin, fat, bones and feet, which Walmart's meat department labels . . . . .  😁 CHICKEN 🐔 PAWS 😅 !!

To all that I added enough water to half way fill the pan, bay leaves, peppercorns, turmeric, a big splash (1/3 - 1/2c) of apple cider vinegar and simmered it all on low, covered, for about 3 hours. Then cooled a bit again before beginning the straining.

Strain everything from one pot to another, of equal size, going back and forth a couple times using finer mesh strainers each time. I've now got it down to only a couple 'strains' since I use a dampened piece of cheesecloth type of material inside a big strainer, the final time to catch all the little particles. This works well for a nice semi-clear broth.

Before doing the final strain, be sure to thoroughly clean the pot you plan to chill this in. Chill at least overnight, or long enough for the fat to solidify at the top and the actual bone broth to gel underneath.

The vinegar and those simmered chicken feet produce a very well gelled broth, which indicates it's full of healthy collagen.

Heat and have a cup, use it in soups or gravies, and give your cat and dog some in their food. Supplementing our pet's diets with healthy human foods can definitely extend their lives.

My American Staffordshire, Penny lived to be 19+ and my Puggle, Oliver will be 15 in July. .🐶. .Lin

Sweet and Hot Peanut Sauce

This is my version of 'fast food.' Something I didn't cook from scratch, that I can eat at home, on a day when I've been really busy and need a break from the 2 or 3 of the things in the 'fridge I made in the last few days.

Tonight it was these frozen chicken-vegetable wontons sauteed with 6 big garlic cloves in toasted sesame oil (yes 6!) with 3/4c frozen peas added at the end. As this was coming together I realized I was out of sweet chili sauce, so I put a peanut sauce together in just a few minutes: Combine. . .equal parts of natural peanut butter + jalapeno jelly or jam. Add a big splash of soy sauce to get it to the consistency you want. . .that's all! If it doesn't mix well, 30 seconds in the microwave will help.

Another good addition would have been a spoonful of the really spicy Swad Coriander (cilantro) Chutney - Maybe next time. Bon Appetit! . . . Lin

A Whole Grain Focaccia

Creating variations of this bread baking is really becoming a fun thing!

This recipe is almost the same as the previous except for the flour and the seeds/seasonings I added to the dough. Next time I might use some corn flour and increase the yeast a bit.

200g Italian 00 flour - from Caputo, Italy
3T ground flax seed + enough rye flour to = 100g

7g everything bagel seasoning
1/2-1t Himalayan pink salt

4.5g active dry yeast

280g warm (115°) water

2t raw organic honey

Whisk the flour and seasoning in a big glass bowl. Heat the water to 115° and stir in the yeast and sweetener. Once dissolved, let it activate for 10 minutes or so. Pour this into the flour bowl. Working quickly with a silicone spatula, mix this together until all the flour is absorbed.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and put in your unheated oven with the light on. That brings the temperature to around 85° and there are no drafts to interfere with the rising process. When it's doubled in size, in an hour or two, take it out of the oven.

Preheat the oven to 395°F (200°C) Butter a glass baking pan very well* Pour and scrape the dough into the pan using the spatula to spread it evenly to the corners.

Drizzle with EVOO and oil your fingers. Poke them into the surface of the dough to make little 'wells'.

Sprinkle the top with flaked salt or any seasoning you like. I used everything bagel seasoning just before baking.

Bake for 25 minutes or until lightly browned and crispy on top. Cool 20 minutes or so then remove from the pan - this time the bread removed very easily. Cut it into strips and squares. This is really good split and toasted when used as the base of an egg sandwich or avocado toast. . .Lin

A Focaccia Adventure!!

Wow. . .This was really fun, quick and turned out great for my first attempt at Focaccia!

First of all, if you aren't already weighing your ingredients, for baking - as opposed to measuring - just put this recipe aside for now - buy yourself a little kitchen scale that weighs in pounds, ounces and grams. You'll be glad you did after using it a time or two.  It's a European thing that gives much more consistent results.

300g Italian 00 flour - from Caputo, Italy

7g of a salt, pepper & garlic blend

  -or- everything bagel seasoning

4.5g active dry yeast

280g warm (115°) water

1t organic cane sugar

  -or- raw local honey

  -this helps to activate the yeast-

Whisk the flour and seasoning in a big glass bowl. Heat the water to 115° and stir in the yeast and sweetener. Once dissolved, let it activate for 10 minutes or so. Pour this into the flour bowl. Working quickly with a silicone spatula, mix this together until all the flour is absorbed.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and put in a warm place for 1-2 hours, until double in size.

I've found the best place for this is a cold oven with the light on. That brings the temperature to around 85° and there are no drafts to interfere with the rising process.

Preheat your oven to 395°F (200°C) Using butter or ghee, grease a glass baking pan very well* Pour and scrape the dough into the pan using the spatula to spread it evenly to the corners.

Drizzle with EVOO and oil your fingers. Poke them into the surface of the dough to make little 'wells'. Sprinkle the top with flaked salt or any seasoning you like. I mixed a salt, pepper & garlic blend into the flour, to flavor the bread but decided to sprinkle the oiled top with everything bagel seasoning just before baking.

Bake for 25 minutes or until lightly browned and crispy on top. Cool 20 minutes or so then remove from the pan and cut into strips and squares. This is really good served warm.

This recipe, and any subsequent variations, just might turn me - a 'not-too-big-on-bread' person, into a crispy Focaccia lover! I'll cut the rest of this into squares that can be split for sandwiches or toast. . .Lin


*This came out of the pan cleanly, but did not come out easy.
It required some prying with a flat metal pancake flipper. If you want to avoid that, line the pan with 2 well greased pieces of parchment paper, cut to fit the length and width of the pan, including the sides.