Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Homemade Vegetable Stock...

I use a lot of Veggie Stock and for me this was the most practical thing to do by making my own and freezing it. the only thing is I use so much I just keep this in the fridge and keep making more and more...

1 Tbl Olive Oil or Water
1 Lg yellow onion, roughly chopped
2 celery stalks including a few leaves, roughly chopped
2 Lg carrots, peeled and rough chopped
3-5 scallions,rough chopped
8 garlic cloves, minced
8 sprigs of fresh parsley
6 sprigs of fresh Thyme
2 bay leaves
1 tsp salt or more for taste.
2 Quarts of water.

Heat oil or water in a large stock pot, add onion, celery, carrots, scallions, garlic,Parsley, Thyme,and bay leaves. cook over med heat for 5 to 10 min stir frequently.
add salt and water and bring to a boil. lower heat and simmer, uncovered for 30 min.
strain the Veggies and let the stock cool and store either in the freezer in jars or keep in the fridge a few days.
you can add any veggies you prefer have fun trying different ones or try roasting the veggies first for a more smokey flavor.

Orzo Pilaf with roasted red peppers and peas...

This dish is very close to being a risotto as it is so creamy and so very tasty.


2 Tbl extra virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves finely mined
12 oz Orzo Pasta
3C vegetable stock
1 C fresh or frozen baby peas
1 sm 8oz jar roasted red peppers drained and chopped
salt and pepper to taste

in a large pot or a deep pan with a lid heat oil and add the minced garlic, stirring , cook for 2 min.
Add Orzo and cook stirring for about 2 min.
Add veg stock, peas, red peppers , salt and pepper.
Bring to a boil over high heat.
reduce heat to low, cover and simmer stirring a few times for about 15 minutes until Orzo is tender yest still firm to the bite and has absorbed the liquid, serve at once.

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

My big fat Greek Salad...

I love this salad and eat it several times a week it's fast, easy, tasty and I always have all the ingredients on hand and if not I substitute...

Red Leaf Lettuce- bite size pieces
Butter Lettuce- bite size pieces
Garbanzo beans
White Corn
Cucumber
Zucchinni
Bell Pepper
Avocado- (I eat a whole one everyday)
Kalamata Olives- just a few as these are strong olives
Mediterranean Feta Cheese- crumbled (from Trader Joes)
 salt and pepper to taste
a few sprinkles of olive oil and few bigger sprinkles of Vinegar of your choice I use Red Wine Vinegar but any kind is tasty ....Toss and serve.


any lettuce can be used but the darker the lettuce the better for you. Doug likes Peas and Pineapple on his salad so anything goes...ENJOY!!

Monday, December 12, 2011

Christmas is coming fast....

does it seem like Christmas is just zooming to get here?..I remember when I was younger that Christmas was a slow build up there were Christmas shows to watch and movies to see and padgets to get ready for..
I refuse to be rushed and I refuse to let the stores dictate Christmas to me...on thing about it I can say is if you do a home improvement I suggest you do it either way before the Holidays or after...we just had a wall in the living room prepared for the TV to be mounted above the fireplace and that has taken away a good week or more of me getting my decorations up tree included...but this next weekend Doug will be in the rafters getting down box after box of memories and Kaitlyn will be over to help decorate the tree and the whole house...I can hardly wait to slow things down and just soak up every minute of watching her put things in special places all over Nonie's and Papa's house making it  BEE-U-TEE-FULL....