Category Archives: Recipes

Apr14

Kale Chip Recipe

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Kale is my favorite green so far. I love it sauteed, but I decided that I would try to make some kale chips with the yummy kale that is growing in my Florida backyard garden.

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Let’s keep this simple, shall we? After all, we’re starting with 3 simple ingredients: kale, olive oil, and kosher salt.

Wash kale, rip kale off the main rib into chip-size pieces, toss with a drizzle of olive oil on a cookie sheet, sprinkle with salt, and bake at 350 degrees for about 14 minutes. Keep an eye on them; you want them to be dark green and crispy, not brown.
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Wash, rip, drizzle, sprinkle, bake, eat.
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Simple to make and only three ingredients. Healthy too, if you care about that kind of stuff. 🙂 I personally feel better about serving this to my family than potato chips. Yikes!! Potato chips have lots of fat and empty calories.

Do you add anything to your kale chips instead of or in addition to the salt? I’d love to hear about it in the comments! Growing kale in Florida is fun and it’s good for you too!

Apr10

My Favorite Kale Recipe

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The first kale that I ever ate came from my backyard garden. I read that it would grow in Florida during the fall and winter, and so I decided to grow it and hope that I liked it. 🙂

I absolutely love it! I think that it is my favorite green. This is my favorite way to eat kale; this recipe works well as a hearty breakfast or yummy brunch.

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You just need a few ingredients; feel free to substitute or omit based on personal taste. I’m one of those cooks that seldom follows a recipe. I tend to get the general idea but substitute and omit and embellish quite freely. Feel free to do the same, and if you come up with another killer combination, let me know-I may want to try it too!

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Wash the kale and tear it into pieces about the size of an egg. Saute the onions in some olive oil (or butter, if you want it to be really amazing), then wilt the kale and add the tomatoes. Sprinkle with a dash of kosher salt.

You could simply add the eggs at this point and cook it all together for a kind of easy omelet, but I like to scramble some eggs separately.

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Layer the eggs, sauteed veggies, diced ham, and shredded cheddar. Let the cheese melt on low heat.

I love how the cheese melts into everything and binds it together a little. So yummy!

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This is such a great way to start the day!

This week I also want to try making kale chips. Anybody have a favorite way to make them? I’d love to hear about it in the comments!

Yay for nutritious kale! How do you like to eat kale?

 

Mar31

Mint-Infused Sweet Tea

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Here in the South, we like our sweet tea. I have developed my own recipe that my husband really likes and I stray from its proportions at my own risk.

I have to start with Luzianne tea. It is the best. Period.

Currently, I have 4 boxes in my pantry. It makes my husband sad if I run out of this tea, so I try to keep well-stocked.

I pour one cup of sugar into my sweet tea pitcher, then steep 3 family-size bags in 2 cups of hot water for 10 minutes. Then I swirl the hot tea concentrate and the sugar until the sugar is dissolved. I fill the pitcher with water so  it contains 3 quarts of Southern living-the-dream nectar.

I leave my tea bags in the solution; the tea actually tastes better the second day, not bitter at all.

So how can this sweet tea become even more refreshing?

By adding a sprig of fresh mint!

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I take a few leaves of fresh mint, crush them to release the flavor, place them in the bottom of my glass, add ice, then pour the tea over it all.

Ahh so good! Just what I need after a warm afternoon of playing in the garden!

Time to relax and drink my nectar and watch the hummingbirds drink the homemade nectar that I make for them.

Do you add anything to your sweet tea or are you cringing at the thought of adding anything to it? I’d love to hear your comments below!

Mar5

Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cranberry Walnut Cookies

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Sometimes ingredients just beg to be together. These three have been in my pantry, asking to be made into a cookie.

Chocolate chips, dried cranberries, and walnuts-what a great combination! Mr. Quaker Oats wanted to be in on the fun too, so I took the recipe for Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin Cookies from the lid of my Quaker Oats canister and modified it a bit. Well,  maybe I took quite a few liberties with what is already a yummy classic.

They were fabulous! Creamy chocolate, sweet-with-a-bit-of-tang cranberries and toasted walnuts make every bite of these cookies delicious. Oh yes, and pumpkin spice too! There’s  different textures too- soft chocolate, chewy cranberries, and crunchy walnuts, all in one cookie.

You will need:

1/2 cup + 6 Tablespoons of softened butter, 3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar, 1/2 cup granulated sugar, 2 eggs, 1 teaspoon vanilla, 1/2 cup pumpkin puree, 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice, 2 1/2 cups Quaker Oats (quick or old fashioned, uncooked), 1 cup chocolate chips, 1 cup dried cranberries, and 1/2 cup of walnuts.

So much yumminess!!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Beat sugars and butter until creamy. Add the eggs and vanilla, mix well. Add the pumpkin puree. Wisk the flour, baking soda, salt, and spices together, then add to the batter.

By this point, your oven is probably preheated and you have to get the cookie sheets out anyway, so why not toast those walnuts? Put them on the cookie sheet and set the timer at 3 minutes. Mine took 4 minutes to get a light brown color, but definitely check on them after 3 minutes. You want them toasted, not roasted.

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See how they are light brown? Take them off the cookie sheet to cool while you mix the chocolate chips and dried cranberries into the dough.

I had 2 bags of white chocolate chips with little random amounts left. They were bugging me. What can you do with a random amount (1/2 cup) of white chocolate chips? Toss them in too, of course!

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Wow, these are going to be spectacular. Better get a glass of milk into the freezer now!

Mix in the cooled walnuts and place by rounded tablespoonfuls (or use a cookie dough scoop) on an ungreased cookie sheet.

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Hmmm, better smush those down a bit, these cookies are stuffed with mix-ins. Bake from 8-10 minutes. I like my chocolate chip cookies to be pretty soft, but with these I waited until the centers weren’t glossy before I took them out of the oven.

Cool on tray for a minute, then transfer to wire rack. Put your second batch in, set the timer, grab that glass of milk from the freezer, and enjoy some spectacular cookies!

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This is supposed to make 4 dozen. This number is highly variable, depending on how big you tend to make your cookie dough scoops. My scoops are pretty big, so I just made 3 dozen.

These are just the thing to make your house smell homey and warm and to chase away the winter blues! Spring is coming!

What do you think-can I eat these for breakfast too?

Mar1

Daikon Radish Recipe-Simple and Yummy!

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When I was researching what I could grow in the fall and winter garden of northwest Florida, I saw that radishes were an option. I had never really cared much for radishes before, but I don’t like to have bare ground in the garden when it could produce a crop. I noticed that ‘daikon’ was a variety recommended by the University of Florida’s gardening calendar.

So, when I was in my local feed-n-seed store and saw those seeds for sale in bulk, I promptly purchased some.

Then, I went home and researched my newly purchased daikons.

I did not see images of little red spheres. I saw huge white carrot-like roots.

Undeterred, I went ahead and grew some anyway.

I’m glad I did! The few that I did plant as a trial germinated well and have been a fuss-free crop. Here’s a simple way to prepare this unique vegetable.

First, select some daikons, either from your garden or from a grocery. I walked outside and pulled mine. Three this size will make sides for 2 people.

You will also need olive oil, one clove of garlic, two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar, a pinch of minced fresh tarragon, and kosher salt.

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Wash them very well, no need to peel. The greens can sometimes have sand lodged in them, so be sure to trim them off and rinse well. Don’t be afraid to be a little rough with them in order to remove all the grittiness.

Unless, of course, you want to simultaneously remove plaque from your teeth and eat your dinner. That’s a bit too much multitasking for me, so I just wash my greens really well.

Slice the root into thin medallions and coarsely chop the greens.
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I love how every part of this vegetable has a use, even the scraps. They will be turned into compost for another crop. No waste here!

Next, heat some olive oil in a skillet ( I used cast iron) on medium heat, then lightly brown some minced garlic in the oil. Add the medallions first and cook until lightly browned and slightly translucent.

My Certified Executive Chef father-in-law suggested this next step that really elevates this dish. Deglazing. Don’t skip it- it really is easy!

Turn the heat to high, be sure the skillet is nice and hot, then pour in two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar. You will see lots of bubbling and really smell the vinegar, but don’t panic! The bubbling is loosening all those little flavorful pieces that would otherwise stay stuck to the skillet and is putting them in your dish.
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Now, start adding the chopped greens a handful at a time, wilting them a bit. Once your greens are all in, add a pinch of minced fresh tarragon. Continue to cook over medium heat until the root medallions are lightly browned and the greens are wilted, stirring frequently. If you prefer a milder flavor for your radishes, just leave the skillet over medium-low heat for a few more minutes.
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Sprinkle generously with kosher salt and enjoy!

Looking for something sweet? Try my Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cranberry Walnut cookies!