Orecchiette With Chickpeas and Broccoli Rabe

Ingredients

Ready in a little more than 20 minutes!
Best served with a glass of Pinot, you’ll enjoy a low-fat pasta dish that packs almost one-third of your DRI (dietary reference intake) of iron

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 (15 1/2-ounce) can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
8 ounces broccoli rabe (rapini), chopped into 1-inch pieces
3 cups fat-free reduced-sodium chicken broth
4 cups hot, cooked orecchiette (a little ear-shaped pasta), 8 ounces dry
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup (1 ounce) grated fresh Parmesan cheese

Preparation

1. Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat; add chickpeas and sauté 2 minutes or until they’re just beginning to brown. Add garlic and crushed red pepper and sauté 30 seconds.

2. Add broccoli rabe and chicken broth to pan; bring to a simmer and cook 3 minutes or until broccoli rabe is crisp-tender.

3. Stir in hot pasta and salt; cook 2 minutes or until heated throughout.

4. Divide among 4 shallow bowls, and top each with Parmesan cheese.

www.health.com

 

Cafe de la Olla

This one’s for my sista

😀 😀

Mexican Spiced Coffee
Cafe de la Olla

Café de la Olla

• 1 teaspoon orange zest
• 1/4 teaspoon cloves (or clovina), ground
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon (or canela), ground
• 4 heaping tablespoons coffee, ground
• 3 cups water, hot, near boiling
• molasses, to taste
• half and half or cream, to taste

Instructions

1. Put water on to boil. You want it near boiling, but not a rolling boil.
2. Add dry ingredients into a large french press. Stir. Add hot water. Steep for 10 minutes. Plunge the french press. Serve and enjoy!

8 days and a Gallon Margarita

Wow!! It’s been 8 days since I last posted!!!

We were looking after “the boss man’s” puppy, Bentley a.k.a Marley!

Bentley baby was picked up on Saturday night and life is slowly getting back to normal 😀

He really wasn’t all that bad, we found the mornings the worst, 3 dogs excited to go outside and 2 indoor cats waiting to make a break for it!

We’d have him back in a heartbeat!

Last night “the boss man” invited us over for a drink, one of his signature Margaritas.

He mixed up a huge batch in a blender enough for the 4 of us but he won’t share his secret mix. 😀

The one drink that I did have, was pretty potent! I was a little tippy on the way up the hill to the driveway. 😀

I think I’ll be one up on him with this recipe though!

Gallon Margartita

6 cups tequila (you’ll need to buy two fifths for this)
2½ cups triple sec (just buy one fifth, please)
2½ cups fresh lime juice
2½ cups fresh lemon juice
2 cups simple syrup

Mix ingredients together in gallon container. Don’t forget to refrigerate! When ready to serve, pour mixture into a 16-ounce glass filled with ice. Salted rim is optional.

Makes 21 margaritas.

www.jeffreymorgenthaler

Raw and Vegan – Mango Raspberry Tart

I found this great website called Sweetly Raw she’s got all kinds of yummy good for you vegan deserts.  I love mango and of course raspberries, I can’t wait to make this!!!

Mango Raspberry Tart

Crust:

2 cups nuts of choice

3/4 cup pitted, packed dates

Grind the nuts and dates together in a food processor. Add 1-2 teaspoons of water if the mixture is too dry and crumbly.

Press the mixture into an 8″ tart pan, or use mini tart pans.

Filling:

2 cups diced mango

1 1/2 cups cashews

1/4 cup agave

2 tablespoons melted coconut oil

1-2 tbs lemon juice

1/3 cup melted cacao butter

2 cups raspberries

Blend all but the cacao butter, coconut oil, and berries, until smooth and creamy.
Add the cacao butter/oil and blend until completely mixed.

Evenly spread some of the raspberries over the crust and then smash them down with a fork.

Spread the mango filling over top.

Garnish with the remaining raspberries (and more if needed).

www.sweetlyraw.com

Tropical Spritzer

I am still alcohol free it’s been a couple of weeks now!!

Over the last couple of weeks admittedly I have had in total, 4 drinks 😀

But other than that I’ve been doing really well 😀

Here is a great non alcoholic cocktail

In a cocktail glass filled with ice, add 3oz mango juice, 3oz peach juice. 
Top with soda water and stir to mix. 
Garnish with star fruit.

www.lcbo.com

≈Laugh loudly, Love generously, Care deeply, Speak kindly≈

Your Banana May Contain……..

It’s becoming harder and harder  to know whats in and on our food!

Soy sauce may contain gluten;  ice cream may have tree nuts in it, salad mix may be tainted with E. coli.

But there are some foods that are so pure, so uncomplicated, that they are just what they are, right?

Like bananas.

NOT!

As Science Daily reports, scientists have come up with a new spray they say will prevent bananas from ripening into brown mush for almost two extra weeks.

What’s the big deal you ask?

Well, let me tell you,  the spray is made from chitosan, which is derived from the shells of shrimp and crabs.

Can you imagine the simple banana carrying a warning label “This product may contain shellfish byproducts.” If sprayed this lovely yellow, handy fruit would be  off-limits to hard-core vegans and to people who suffer from shellfish allergies.

The chitosan-based spray is not available commercially yet, so no bananas are being treated.

Personally I think they should leave well enough alone, bananas are great just the way they are, when they get too ripe their great for baking, smoothies and face masks 😀

Thoughts anyone?

Have a Happy Sunday

😀 😀

Andiroo the Foodie

My  brother – Andrew – a.k.a Andiroo, Uncle Fru Fru, jerk 😀 😀 😀
Is 7 years younger than me. My sister and I often tease him about the “unfortunate” accidents that occured when he was young… he had fallen while playing on the monkey bars in the back yard and broken both his arms….hmmm and the time he took a ride in his walker down a flight of stairs and ended up with 2 black eyes….hmmm

Those things did happen but we really had nothing to do with it we loved our little brother 😀

However he did get his revenge on one occasion….at the time we used Johnsons Baby Shampoo…also known as Shampee!!!!

He was the cutest little guy , he had the curliest brown hair and chubby cheeks and was my mothers “pride and joy” and still is.
“Be kind to your brother” or “Andrew wouldn’t have done that” or “Isn’t he just the best son a mother could have” ok she never said that exactly but my sister and I know that she thinks it…:D 😀 😀

All kidding aside I do love my brother very much.  I’m very proud of him, he has a family of his own now,and is an awesome husband and fantastic father to 3 girls.
He also loves to cook, is very witty and I do believe marked as “gifted” I just call him special. 😀 😀
One of his friends suggested he start a blog which I think is great idea I’ve stolen some of his pictures and captions off of fb to share with you.

If it’s on fb it fair game right?? 😀

Exhibit A :

experiment 04-20-13 aka “no life”:  3 different hole and dough densities are subject in this test.  subjects 13L, 5L, and 3C will be placed in a morning trial to determine the outcome of drunkin daddy bagel experiments…  i think i’ll try the top left one now just be safe…i really want the bottom right one though.

shouldn’t have used egg on top like it said… the kids like them they’re just a bit chewy… test subject 14L(not 13L) has not woken up yet… so we shall see

Exhibit B :

this ones for my vegan, veggie munchin sister…  hello Mr Onion what to do with you?… HA! I know…

hello Mr Onion … mmmm

spiced fried onions, three different flavors five different dips, three friends underdone, overdone and done just right… always experiment with friends i say… yum yum yum.

I think it could make for a very interesting blog 😀

Sunday Morning

 

 

It’s Sunday morning and the house is extremely quiet.  The girls each had a friend over last night and probably didn’t go to sleep until well after midnight.  Chances are they won’t be up until around 10.

I’ve had two cups of coffee and am totally enjoying the peace and the time to myself uninterrupted. The calm before the storm

I look forward to my lazyish Sunday mornings.

We often have BIG breakfasts on Sundays, bacon, pancakes, eggs and toast it seems to be the only day everyone is here to enjoy breakfast together, the girls usually have friends over and it makes it so much more fun and entertaining.

I can hear the  giggling, and chit chat starting already my quiet time is over 😦

Happy Sunday!!

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