Par-Snippity!

Every time I visit my daughter, I get a new food idea.  After this visit, she introduced me to parsnips.  I had heard of parsnips before, but never knew what they were.  Parsnips are actually a relative of carrots and have been around since ancient times.  They can be eaten raw, boiled, baked, or roasted.  I made my weekly visit to the Farmer's Market (I love that place!) and bought a couple of parsnips.  They look like big tan-ish, yellow-ish carrots.  I peeled them with a vegetable peeler and diced them up.  I  placed them on a roasting pan that had been sprayed with olive oil.  You can sprinkle some salt and pepper on them if you chose.

They tend to shrink up after you roast them, so buy more than you think you'll need.  This is what 2 parsnips looks like after they are diced and roasted.

I roasted them at 425 degrees for 25 minutes and stirred them around after 15 minutes.  They have a little bit of a spicy taste, but they are really good!

Goodbye Old Friend

About a year after I got married, I decided to take cake decorating classes.  I loved it!  It turned into a side business and I decorated cakes for people for 17 years.  I did cakes for birthdays, holidays, anniversaries, weddings, or any special occasion that needed a cake.  A year after I started teaching, I didn't have the time to continue.  I still decorate cakes, but only for the family; mostly for the grandkids.  The Christmas after I started decorating cakes, my husband surprised me with a Sunbeam Mixmaster Stand Mixer.  It was the best mixer in the world!  Sadly, my old and faithful harvest gold friend started falling apart.  Hubby tried to fix it.  If something can be fixed, he can do it.  This time, it was a hopeless situation.  I went online and found its replacement.  It arrived today!!!  Now I feel like I have to make something special.  I'll get back to you later on what that might be.  My new mixer has big shoes (or beaters?) to fill. It's a beauty, but I hope it can live up to its ancestor.

An oldie, but a goodie.

Setting the Record Straight

Numerous people have made a statement to others about me that simply isn't true.  They are saying, "Gayla loves to cook!"  Let me set the record straight.  I DO NOT like to cook.  Refer back to my July 11, 2011 post.  I specifically said, "I do not like to cook.  I like to eat."  I still stand by those words.  However, if I don't cook, I don't eat.  It's a survival thing.  With that being said, let me tell you about my weekly routine.  Friday night on my way home from work, I stop by the farmer's market and pick up lots of veggies and fruits I know I would enjoy during the next week.  I did this yesterday.  By getting that out of the way on Friday, I can sleep later on Saturday.  Then Saturday (sometimes it carries over to Sunday), I get up and start cooking veggies.  I did it this morning.  I cooked and prepped for 3 1/2 hours.  While the first food was roasting in the oven, I was getting the next pan of food ready to take its place.  I know that's a long time, but that's 3 1/2 hours I don't have to be in the kitchen during the work week. This morning I roasted all of my vegetables using the technique I wrote about in my last post.  I roasted asparagus, zucchini, okra, green beans, cauliflower, mushrooms, and sweet potatoes.  This was the first time I had roasted mushrooms or green beans.  I haven't completely decided if I like the green beans or not.  I ate 2 of them, but was too busy to eat more. When I roasted the mushrooms, I used spray butter on top of them and cut the cooking time down to 15 minutes.  I stirred them around after 10 minutes.  Now I can have a variety of foods for lunch and dinner and don't have to spend time during the week preparing it. Now if someone wants to make a true statement about me, they might want to try this one:  GAYLA LOVES TO SLEEP LATE.  I won't argue with that.

Roasted Veggies

I have now become addicted to roasted vegetables thanks to my daughter.  I blame her for this and at the same time, I thank her for it.  They are easy to prepare, yummy to eat, and easy to clean up.  Here is a picture of the sweet potatoes and cauliflower I made.  They were delicious!  I have also made roasted asparagus, zucchini, and squash using this same technique.  They are equally good!  The roasted broccoli was not good though.  This has been a trial and error experiment and broccoli has been the only error.

Roasted Vegetables

Cube up your vegetables.  Spread them out on a foil lined pan that has been sprayed with Pam.  Spray your vegetables with olive oil, then sprinkle with salt, pepper, and garlic powder, if desired.  Bake at 425 degrees for 25 - 30 minutes.  Stir veggies half way through.

Chip Clips

I must admit it.  I am addicted to Pinterest.  The first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem.  Only, I don't plan to do anything about it.  I guess that kicks me out of a Pinterest recovery program.  As Doris Day always said, "Que Sera Sera.  What will be will be."  If you're my age, you sung that in your head, didn't you?  Yeah, I thought so.  Well, one day while enjoying the posts on Pinterest, I ran across one where you could turn the hangers with clips on the ends into chip clips!  BRILLIANT!  I had a bunch of those hangers and would use them sometimes, but I knew I wouldn't miss a few for this project.  I gave the hangers to hubby, shared my plan, and he cut the clips off with one of his saws and then smoothed the edges for me.  He loves my simple projects!  Now I have plenty of clips and they didn't cost me a dime!  WOO HOO!!!!!!!!!!!!  Try this project yourself.  The clips are strong and work great!

Asparagus and Mushrooms

In my last post, I told you about all the food I bought at a local Farmer's Market.  I started cooking last night and will finish up today.  Getting all the veggies cooked help me when I come home tired and I also don't have to think too much about what to prepare.  I make a wide variety of foods on the weekends.  In my refrigerator today I will have sweet potatoes, brussel sprouts, salad mix, asparagus, mushrooms, green beans, and cabbage.  When I come home from work, all I have to fix is the meat!  If I cook the meat on the grill or in the oven, there is less clean up!  As you know, I'm all about easy!

I have also been on a diet since mid May, so I have changed the way I prepare some foods.  Sadly, I have not been able to eat sweets, but I'm hoping I'll be able to have a treat now and then soon.  Instead of using margarine in the tub or stick, I now use spray butter.  I add a little salt (if any) to my food AFTER it is cooked.  Instead of using salad dressing on my salads at lunch, I use spritzers.  I can have 2 tablespoons of low fat dressing on a salad at night.  The only oil I use is olive oil and I use it sparingly.  There have been lots of little changes to my food lifestyle that have made a big difference.

Here are 2 recipes I now fix the lighter way.

Asparagus

Fresh asparagus  (cut the hard part of the stem off)
Spray butter

Lay the asparagus on a foil lined pan.  Spray butter on the asparagus.  Bake at 425 degrees for 20 minutes.  Add seasonings after you remove it from the oven.

Mushrooms

Mushrooms
Garlic powder
Spray butter

Wash the mushrooms and cut the bottom of the stems off.  Slice or quarter the mushrooms.  Place them in a bowl and sprinkle garlic powder on mushrooms.  Spray several squirts of butter on the mushrooms.  Place in the microwave and cover with wax paper.  Cook for 4 minutes.  Stir and cover.  Cook for 4 more minutes.  Stir and cover.  Cook for 3 more minutes.

 

Happiness

Different things make different people happy.  Sometimes it doesn't take a lot.  That was me today.  I always like to stop by the Farmer's Market near my job.  It makes me happy when I can buy fresh fruits and vegetables for my family.  I actually get excited to find some of my favorite healthy food for less than what I can buy them for in the grocery stores.  Today I came home with many treasures. I bought 2 packs of raspberries, 4 bananas, pineapple, 3 lb. of asparagus, okra, brussel sprouts, 2 1/2 lb. of mushrooms, grape tomatoes, organic salad mix, a head of cabbage, and green beans.  The best part is that I only had to pay $23 for all of that!  It would have cost me twice that at Kroger!  I wish I could post a picture of my valuables, but I took a picture with my phone and can't figure out how to put it on here.  I have to get busy cooking now.  I'll cook all the veggies so they are ready to eat throughout the week for lunch and dinner.  Mmmmmmmm!