A Simple Abundance

Living a minimalist life to the fullest!

Yummy Summer Salad

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I love to try new recipes – especially in the summer.  This one makes my mouth water just thinking about it.  I call it the “Yummy Summer Salad” because I don’t know the name.

A couple of months ago, we went to visit some friends in Alabama and they made it for us.  Megan told me that she picked it up in a grocery store salad bar one time and asked them the recipe.  I’m sure it has been tweaked a bit over the years.

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Recipe

Salad

  • 2-3 cans of chickpeas drained and rinsed
  • 1 bag of thawed organic edamame
  • 1 small bag of crasins
  • 3-4 chopped carrots
  • 1 tub of feta

Dressing

  • 1/2 cup olive oil
  • 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Mix all Salad ingredients together.  Whisk the dressing together and pour over salad.  Mix everything together well.

This salad is good right away but gets better as the flavors meld.  I say make it the day before you eat it.

Thank you to Megan Brantley for introducing me to it!

Christmas Potpourri

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A couple of years ago I was browsing Pinterest and ran across a whole board of homemade potpourri. It looked beautiful and I was sure all of the recipes were amazing. Since it was close to Christmas, I looked for a holiday blend to use while family was gathered at our house.  I found this recipe from Dandee and loved her idea of giving it out as Christmas gifts to neighbors. I love to bake at Christmas time, however some of our neighbors and family are diabetic and I really shouldn’t be tempting them with sugar. This is a great alternative and it smells amazing.

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The first year I gave it out I had a lot of puzzled faces. People weren’t sure what to do with it despite the directions written on the back of the tags. The contents of the bag go into a saucepan on the stovetop in water and simmer. You can actually use it for about a week if you keep refilling it with water. My parents  left their bag in the kitchen and mentioned a couple of times that it didn’t smell. #facepalm

The next Christmas people started to catch on, and by the third everyone was asking for it. “You are making the smelly-good stuff this year, right?” They were hooked — and so was I.

I’ve lost track of how many years I have been making my potpourri. I have changed the recipe a little over the years. All of the ingredients can get quite expensive and so I cut down on a few things to make it more affordable.  Here is my recipe:

  • 1/3 cup dried cloves
  • 1/4 cup allspice
  • 2-3 sticks of cinnamon
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 slice of dried orange
  • 1 slice of dried lemon
  • 3 slices of dried apples

I arrange everything in a cellophane bag in the order above and tie it off with a nice Christmas bow.  I also write the directions on how to use it on a tag attached to the bow.

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I start the process a couple of weeks before gift giving starts to provide enough time to dry the fruit.  I have a 5-tray dehydrator that I use for drying.  I start with the citrus and let them dry for about 24-48 hours. You have to keep a close eye on the lemon or the pulp will turn black.  It still smells good, but it doesn’t look very pretty. I give the apples about 72 hours to dry and haven’t ever had a problem with them burning.

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My husband is the online order king so I ask him for the spices I need and it arrives in the mail a couple of days later.  He gets most of our spices from Spicy World.  They come in bulk which saves a lot of money. I currently have two HUGE bags of cinnamon sticks and bay leaves.  I’ll never use all of those bay leaves in my entire life.  If you end up making this, I’ll be happy to give you some!

I take one night and put everything together at the dining room table. I always think it would be much more fun with a friend drinking wine and chatting away. Maybe I’ll try that next year.

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Stay tuned for my next post in a few days about my second homemade gift this year. I can’t wait to share it with you and those that receive it!

 

 

Summer Means Salsa!

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Ahh summer. I love this time of year because the garden is overflowing with scrumptious vegetables to sink my teeth into. We always enjoy an over-abundance of tomatoes from July through September thanks to our CSA share from Shepherd’s Valley Farm.

When I was in high school, one of my best friends was from a large Mexican family.  I loved going over to their house and learning how to cook from her mom and grandma.  I have forgotten much of it, but their “granny’s” salsa recipe has always stuck with me.  It was fresh and didn’t require cooking because it was gone before they had a chance to can it. The minute she poured it into the bowl, the boys descended like a pack of  wild dogs. We had to fight for our portion.

The last couple of weeks Shepherd’s Valley has provided nearly everything needed to make granny’s homemade salsa including jalapeño peppers, onions, garlic and tomatoes. All I have to add is salt, lime juice and cilantro.

Cut the tomatoes and onion into quarters. No need for a fine chop. The food processor does all of the work for you.

My food processor does most of the work for me. I just do a rough chop on all of it, throw it in the bowl, and watch it whirl. My mouth is already watering.

The whole process takes less than 10 minutes – just a little longer than it would take you to open a jar of the over-processed stuff. Plus, it doesn’t include preservatives or high fructose corn syrup. You can’t beat that.

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Recipe

  • 4-5 large tomatoes
  • 1 medium onion
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 1 jalapeño pepper, seeded (or leave them in if you like hot salsa)
  • 1/4 cup cilantro
  • juice of one lime
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 teaspoon sugar (optional – I don’t add sugar but some prefer it)

As shown above, rough chop everything and put it into the bowl of the food processor with the chopper blade. Chop on low for about 45 seconds or until it reaches your desired consistency. Take a quick taste and determine if you would like more salt. If it is too hot, use the teaspoon of sugar and throw in an extra tomato.

Serve room temperature or chilled depending on your preference. All of the portions above are estimates. I suggest experimenting and finding the combination that you and your family like the best!

 

Cookies and Gratitude

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It’s wintertime in Kansas and with that comes beautiful snow! We haven’t had much of the beautiful white stuff lately, but what we have has been magical. The most recent storm had large clumps of perfectly formed snowflakes almost an inch in diameter.

I have to admit, I went outside and opened my mouth in hopes of catching one of those clusters on the tip of my tongue. Who says we have to dread snow as adults? I think we should still approach it with the reckless abandon of a child. Take snow walks as it is falling. Listen to the quietness as the snow absorbs the sound around us — even in the middle of the city.  Look for the redbirds perched in the trees. Make snow angels along the way!

The downside that comes with a large snow is the need to shovel your driveway. Ours is very long and taxing to shovel. A wonderful neighbor has snowblower and cleared our driveway while we were at work. It was such a blessing on a very busy day.

I have been feeling the need to bake lately and this was the perfect reason to make some cookies as thanks for such a wonderful gift. I made oatmeal chocolate chip and peanut butter blossoms.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip

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The secret to making these great? Use real butter!

 

I’m becoming known for these cookies. I purchase the Betty Crocker oatmeal cookie bag and then add my own chips. I use Ghiradelli milk chocolate and 60% Cacao chips.  1/2 a bag each per bag of cookie mix. I make the cookie dough first and the stir in the chips and bake per the instructions on the bag.

Peanut Butter Blossoms

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For these I simply followed the recipe on the bag and placed the Hershey’s Kiss on the cookie immediately after it came out of the oven.  YUM!

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I ended up making about 4 dozen cookies yesterday so I have been giving them out to friends and family. It’s always a good idea to be an unexpected blessing to someone!

That’s a Whole Lotta Broth!

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IMG_0848.JPGMy husband’s father is having surgery soon and will be on a liquid diet for 4 weeks. I can’t imagine only drinking broth and other liquids for 4 weeks. I think I would go crazy. 4 weeks!

Let me ask you a question: Would you rather fast on store bought, salt laden stock with who knows what additives and chemicals or home cooked stock with real ingredients? Yep, me too and that is what I’m doing today.

I have learned over the years that my way of helping people in a time of need is to cook for them. When my mom was on hospice earlier this year, I helped out by making sure that her and my dad had plenty of food. I would take a day and make all of their food for a week so they would never have to worry about it. Now I can do the same for my sweet father-in-law.

I’m making chicken and beef broth today and I can’t believe how easy it really is. The great thing about broth is that none of the vegetables have to be cut perfectly. Give them a rough cut and throw them in along with water and bones. The hard part is smelling that yummy goodness for hours. These are great recipes to make in the middle of winter when there is snow on the ground and you don’t want to get out of your house.

I’ve learned that bone broth is actually very good and healing for the body. Learn more about this from my favorite PCOS health guru Amy Medling.

The chicken broth recipe comes from the PCOS Diva and I’ve changed it a bit for my personal taste.

  • chicken carcass
  • 3 carrots
  • 2 stalks celery
  • 1 large bay leaf or 2 small leaves
  • 15 peppercorns
  • 1 onion
  • 6 cloves of garlic
  • Handful of parsley
  • 1- 1.5 tablespoon salt depending on taste
  • 4 quarts of water
  • 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
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All of the ingredients for the perfect chicken stock

Throw everything into a stock-pot and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer for 3 hours.

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I like to use filtered water for the broth.

The fun part comes when you strain everything from the new broth. I like to use a cheesecloth in a strainer. That way when all of the liquid is strained you can fold up the cloth with the large bits and throw away without a lot of mess.

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Cheesecloth makes it easy to keep all of the veg in an easy packet to be thrown away.

Let the broth cool to room temperature and put into the fridge overnight. Scrape off the fat from the top before serving or using in a soup.

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After the broth cools, you can skim the fat from the top. Use as a base for soup or as a meal replacement when you are ill.

I took the beef broth recipe from Emeril Lagasse. I couldn’t think of a better chef to reference for this important recipe.  I didn’t dice up all of the veg like it calls for in the recipe.  I did a large rough cut on all of them.

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The red wine and the tomato paste bring out the taste of the beef.

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The recipe calls to roast the meat in the oven. For sake of time I skipped this step. Next time I will and it will give the broth a better depth of flavor.

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Right before being strained. Look at that beautiful deep red color!

As I mentioned above, I will strain this stock in a similar fashion.

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I can’t wait to bring these broths to my father-in-law tomorrow and assure that he has good nutrition during his fast. Plus, I can’t wait to see his face when he tries the recipes!

The Ultimate Blueberry Pie!

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Spring is my second favorite time of the year — just behind fall. The fruits and veggies are amazing and everything outside is fresh and new.

In late spring/early summer you can find an abundance of blueberries. We have friends who go to a local blueberry patch and pick their bounty each year. I haven’t had the chance to do this yet, but I hope to in 2015.

The hubs and my father LOVE blueberry pie in the peak of the season. That is the most requested pie I ever get from them. I really enjoy watching their faces as they bite into the scrumptious sweetness and flakey goodness of pie.

I’m not much of a recipe follower. I use them as guides and then attempt to do my own thing depending on my personal taste. I often find that I’m not actually that inventive, someone (like Ina Garten in this instance) actually has a similar recipe. That’s okay, I’m thrilled to know that we have similar tastes in this area. I mean come on – Ina Garten is fabulous!

Here is my recipe:

Note: I don’t make my own piecrusts. I will at some point, but these days I don’t have the attention span to do it correctly so I buy them from Pillsbury. Don’t judge me.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

Ingredients:

  • 4 cups blueberries, washed and picked through
  • 1 cup sugar
  • ½ cup of all purpose flour
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • ¼ cup of real butter
  • Zest of 1 lemon
  • 1 tablespoon milk
  • 1 teaspoon course sugar (or regular sugar reserved from above)

Instructions:

In a bowl, mix together the blueberries through the lemon juice. Be careful not to break the delicate skins of the blueberries.

Roll out one of the piecrusts on a floured surface and place it into a deep pie dish. Pour the blueberry mixture into the piecrust and smooth out with a spatula. Sprinkle the lemon zest over the blueberries evenly. Cut the butter into 1-tablespoon sections and place them all over the top of the blueberries.

Roll out the second piecrust and place it over the top of the pie. Fold the edges under the first crust and crimp all the way around. Cut little holes in the top of the dough around the center for steam to escape. If you are kind of adventurous, you can cut out shapes before placing the top crust on the pie (see picture). If you are really adventurous, you can make a lattice on the top.

Coat the entire top of the pie with a brush dipped in the milk and sprinkle with course sugar. You don’t have to do this step, but it gives a nice shimmer to the top of the pie when it is finished cooking. It’s the little extra steps that make your presentation extra special.

I like to cut three strips of aluminum foil and place them around the edge of the crust so it doesn’t get burned during baking. There are also pie rings that you can purchase that will do the same thing. If you use the foil, make sure you coat the side that goes on the crust with a little cooking spray.

Bake the pie for one hour at 325. When the pie is cooked, let sit for at least an hour for everything to set up before serving.