Eggplant Pizza Casserole

Hey there! Guess what, finishing school is actually more stressful than being in school. At least it is right now. In school there's a set order of how and when to do things, help when you need it (and when you don't), camaraderie of all being in the same dazed state after being repeatedly hit over the head with papers and exams, and other people giving you deadlines. Oh, and people are obligated to see that you succeed. That's not to say they will pass you in a class even though you didn't learn anything, but rather that you are to be given all the help you ask for. When you're searching for a job no body is obliged to give you anything. You're not guaranteed an interviews just because you completed your application on time. It is a strange new world out there folks. But I'm bumbling my way through it.

And what is one of the best ways of distressing? Eating chocolate! Uh... I mean cooking. So here is my latest way to try to consume as much pizza as possible while still remaining at least somewhat healthy.

Ingredients:
2 large eggplants
1 lb mozzarella
1 1/2 cups of marinara (I didn't actually have any so I used tomato paste thinned with an equal amount of water)
1 15-ounce can of black olives
1 15-ounce can of artichoke hearts
1 lb. (ish) pepperoni
Olive oil for brushing the eggplant

 Slice the eggplant lengthwise at about a 1/4 inch thick. Lightly brush the eggplant slices with olive oil and place them on baking sheets.

 Bake the eggplant at 345º F for 30 minutes flipping them halfway through. The tops should be mostly dry when you're done.

 While the eggplant is cooking grate the mozzarella.

 Prepare the marinara.

 Slice the olives and artichoke hearts.

 Layer all the ingredients in a oven safe 9"x13" pan with the eggplant slices on the bottom then everything else in the usual order.

 I had enough to make two complete layers.

 Place the whole thing in the oven which is still at 345º F (I just left it on as I was assembling the casserole) and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until everything is warm and the cheese is melted.

 Eat with gusto!

Concentrated Cold Cure

You get a cold. Your friends find out. Let the frenzy of home cures being! You know the story. Everyone has their favorite treatment. Honey and lemon, ginger and honey and lemon, cayenne pepper and ginger, apple cider vinegar and honey, and on and on. I pulled together what I saw as the common ingredients in all of the cures I've been told about and decided to try mixing them all together...in a concentrated form. Why would I do something so potentially gross? To see what happens of course. My hope is that when I feel a cold coming on I can take a spoon full of this crazy concoction rather than having to drink it by the gallon, or if that proves too noxious I can dilute it in hot water and just save some time and head scratching and I wonder when I have time to go pick up fresh ginger at the store (I don't usually have it on hand).

Gather together the ingredients

About 2 tsp of honey (raw is best if you have it)

1/2 tsp Cayenne pepper (I use a whole tsp, but that's probably way too much)

A hunk of fresh ginger

1 tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar or Lemon Juice (I decided to go with the vinegar as I tend to drink lemon water most mornings)

Tap Water

First chop up the ginger. Minced is best for getting the oils into the water, but I don't think it will complain if you aren't too fussy about it. I had a giant piece of ginger so I used about half and froze the other half.

 Place minced-ish ginger in a small pot and add some water, put on high heat.

 Bring it to a full boil for about 5 minutes. I did this to concentrate the ginger water, but I ended up diluting it anyway. It sill might be good for getting as much oil and stuff out of the ginger as possible.

 Set up strainer while ginger is boiling.

 Mix all other ingredients in your jar.

 Strain ginger water. I let some ginger chunks spill over into the water because I still think they have some goodness to give even after boiling.

Add ginger water to the other ingredients in the jar. Mine is a nice rosy pink because of the Cayenne Pepper. (it turns out my camera lens did get fogged by the ginger water steam after all, oops.)

Finally be sure to label the jar (including ingredients) so you know what the strange concoction lurking in the back of the refrigerator is in the future.

Enjoy to restore good health, hopefully!

Cooking: Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins with glaze

The past week has been bitter sweet; I spent most of my time at my old "school", Village Home (I put it in quotations because it is so much better than and different from a traditional school). It was fabulous to see some of my old friends and join them for classes that I either used to be in or wished they had when I was there. The people at Village never fail to amaze, impress, and make me envious. Some of my friends that haven't already gone to college are going next year at the traditional freshman age, but they'll be transferring as juniors. Others are getting jobs and setting out on their own to follow their desires, and still others that will still be at Village are excelling on every competitive team they have (Which includes Model UN, Mock Trial, Lego Robotics, Destination Imagination and more) and being awesome at their other extra curricular activities. Now you can see why I'm envious, compared to them I'm positively a slacker but that's homeschoolers for you. They have the freedom and time to grow into motivated, passionate people. Then they have to spend the rest of their lives fighting to maintain that (that would be where I am right now).

But on to the recipe! I made this right after I got home, but I got too distracted with all the other great stuff I want to make.

 Yay, muffins!

 These guys are scrumptious (although a little dry because I didn't put a full cup of yogurt in).

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

Adapted from this about.com recipe

Ingredients:
2 cups gluten free flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 tbsp poppy seeds
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 egg
1 cup lemon soy yogurt
1/4 cup canola oil
1 tsp lemon extract
1/3 cup lemon juice

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees
• In a medium bowl mix egg, yogurt, oil, lemon extract, and lemon juice. Then mix in the dry ingredients until nicely combined.
• Spoon into lined or greased 12-cup muffin pan.
• Bake for 18 minutes

When completely cooled spoon glaze over the muffins. This will be messy- I put the muffins on a cutting board, but any easy to clean place works.

Glaze
From Martha Stewart

Ingredients:
1 cup powdered sugar
3 tbsps lemon juice

• Put both ingredients in a bowl and whisk until well combined. If it's too think to pour easily add a smidge more lemon juices.

Cooking: Caroline's Brownie GORP

Well it's actually warm here for once which means it's running early or late in the day season. This time I succeeded in running early- before 10 am actually! This is momentous for me since I an not, repeat not, a morning person (although my roommate this past year may disagree, but the only time things are quite at college is before 9 am). I get up early, but don't count as functional until much later.
This run was special for another reason too, it was the first time I'd run with Tazzi since I got home.

Why are you stopping to take pictures? We're here to run!

While I love running with that guy it is much more difficult than running alone because a) he does not get along with other dogs and b) he likes to pull. I'm not talented enough to look after these things and work on my technique so we don't run together as much as I'd like.

On to the recipe. I love brownies, but what I love even more is brownies with lots of extras in them. So I decided to take the extras I love and mix them together to make a I-can-maybe-convince-myself-it's-healthy snack. I mean walnut pieces (healthy) + dried cranberries (mostly healthy) + vegan chocolate chips (humm, not so healthy) evens out as a healthy snack, right?

It also makes a superb topping for rice milk ice cream!

Caroline's Brownie GORP

1 cup dried cranberries (chopped if large)

1 cup walnut pieces

3/4 cup vegan chocolate chips

Put all ingredients in a bag, leave the air in, and shake to mix.

Enjoy by the handful or put on all sorts of goodies. Bonus- you have premixed awesome for your next batch of brownies.

Of course I had some helpers when I was taking the pictures.

Food at nose height? Yeah, we'll help!

Cooking (mostly): Coconut Rice Pilaf

Happy Saturday everyone! It's been a long week, nothing new happened but it felt longer than usual. What did I do this week besides school?

Well I did some of this...

And took pictures of theses...

And that's about it.

So here's the recipe for the delicious food pictured above. I don't have enough good things to say about this, the creamy rich coconut milk, the little bit of chew to the Quorn, and the tang of the pineapple blend beautifully. Best of all anyone can enjoy this meal, it is gluten free, dairy free, and vegan. This is suddenly much more important to me as of last week, because I decided not to eat gluten or dairy for the next month to see whether it would help my digestion.

Recipe adapted from Budget Bytes

1.5 cup jasmine rice
1 can (15 oz) coconut milk
2/3 cup water
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
A little bit of olive oil
1 medium onion
1/2 a bag (probably about 4 oz.) Frozen peas
about 10 baby carrots diced
about 1/2 a bag (probably 4 oz. as well) Quorn chik'n tenders
1 can (15 oz.) pineapple, drained

To make the coconut rice put rice, coconut milk, water, and garlic in a pot and stir to combine. Cover and put on high heat until it boils, immediately after it boils turn the heat down to warm (or the lowest setting). Keep the lit on and cook the rice on warm for 30 minutes.

Heat the olive oil on a skillet on high heat. Thinly slice the onions and saute until the onions are nice and caramelized then add the carrots, peas, and Quorn. When the carrots are tender add the pineapple and cook until everything is nice and warm.

Combine the rice and vegetables in a bowl and sprinkle with soy or tamari sauce if you like, it's great with or without.

Cooking: Mostly Tropical Fruit Salad

I made this fruit salad when I was dogsitting. All I can say is I definitely need to make fruit salad more often!

1 Medium Sized Mango

1 Large Banana

8 Large Strawberries

Chop all the ingredients in to bite sized pieces and mix together. If you're not going to eat the salad right away or have leftovers sprinkle with lemon juice to stave off browning.

Cooking: Vegetable Macaroni and Cheese

I've been trying to eat at least one vegetable with every meal while I've been dogsitting, and I've mostly managed it if you count canned artichoke hearts as a vegetable which I kind of do and kind of don't.

Last night was the perfect time to make this as it was pouring rain. I thought I was going to have to remind God that he promised not to flood the world again. It was that wet. And on nights like those it's time to huddle inside with a nice bowl of comfort food.

16 oz Brocoli frozen
16 oz Dry Brown Rice Pasta (or whatever pasta you like, I just happened to have this on hand)
About 1 and 1/2 cups Grated Sharp Cheddar Cheese
1 Medium Red Bell Pepper

Bring a small pot of water to a boil and reheat the broccoli for 10 minutes, then drain.

Cook pasta according to directions, then also drain.

While the pasta is cooking dice the bell pepper and grate the cheese.

When all the ingredient as ready layer the vegetables, pasta, and cheese either in a bowl or the pot you used to cook the pasta. Note the cheese only melts if your pasta or mixing container is hot so mix everything right away.

Stir until everything is mixed together and coated in cheese.

Enjoy!

(Adapted from Cate's World Kitchen)