Finger Lickin'

Today is a food post. If you know me well, you know that I enjoy all things food. Cooking, menu planning, tasting, eating, devouring, gobbling, sipping, gulping, stirring, chopping....aaaah. It's so fun. God was so good to create flavors and give us creativity. I think there are three, possibly four types of cooks:

> Those who do not like to cook and have no interest in learning.
> Those who follow recipes religiously
> Those who make up their own recipes
> And then there is me. A mix of two and three.

I like looking at recipes to get a general idea of how certain foods are prepared, and then I run with it, tweaking, pinching, adding, subtracting as I follow my taste buds. My Mom is more of a recipe follower. My Dad is a slap-it-together kind of guy. They both bring amazing flavors and aromas to the table. I think I inherited a pinch of both. Somehow I just know what a flavor is going to do to a dish. Not always, mind you. I've been known to dump out plenty of grave mistakes, as Jason well knows. But I can typically sniff a spice and know if it will combine well with whatever is in my pot or mixing bowl. I see it as a God-given ability. You either have it or you don't. If you do, then cook! And enjoy the process. If you don't, then don't feel bad about it and order take out or eat the same thing you can cook every day. PB&J anyone? Mac and cheese? (Eww)
I could write about food and cooking and memories I have about meals and our family kitchen all day long, but I have little time today and will have to do all of that another day. Now. On to the food. Take note that I'm not much into giving exact amounts of ingredients because you should make it according to how you like it and everyone has a varying number of eaters in their home.

This is a soup I have been making lately that we really like.

First I chop these: tomatoes, red onion (or white if you like), cilantro, green onion, red bell pepper. Set the cilantro aside for later...


saute in a little Olive Oil (extra virgin)


while the saute is going on, I work on some garlic. Let me just tell you how much I love garlic: a lot. Look how cute it looks all plump and smooth and shiny.

I smash it to get its juices moving

then chop. I am kind of a coarse garlic chopper. I don't mind if it's not finely minced. I would rather chop garlic than mince it any day.
Sometime though, I wish I had a stone grinder so that I could grind garlic and herbs.
That would be lovely.

once the veggies are looking transparentish, I add milk and let it slightly bubble. Then I add the following

home cooked beans (or canned, if you like)

corn

cooked, ground beef (which is not necessary but I added it because I had it in the fridge)

Shredded cheddar cheese
Please, please, shred your own cheese. Buying pre-shredded is cheating, does not taste as good, and has bad stuff in it. As in, some sort of antibiotic, so watch out!

Then I add all of this. Note that I added waaaay too much salt and I almost choked when I took my first bite.

Stir and bubble for a little while and there you go. welcome, deliciousness.

I toast a flower tortilla on a seasoned skillet and then line the bowl with it. It makes for a nice presentation and the best part? Eating the tortilla last. Mmmmm.

Here are a few extras I am going to throw in here. I really want to post more but cannot today. I am a mother after all, and cannot spend the whole day clacking away at the computer.

We have pancakes once a week. I like putting honey on mine, even though my favorite is real maple syrup (which costs $32 here...yeah, so I put honey on mine) but Jason prefers the fake Jemima stuff.
These pancakes have 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour, 1/2 cup of whole oats, three tsp of baking powder, two tbsp of raw sugar, 1/2 tsp salt, two eggs, 1 1/2 cups (or a little more) of milk, 1/4 cup of coconut oil (or other kind is fine). Today I got Luka to help me stir the batter. They tasted better that way. = ]

I love using a gas stove. It does cook faster so I had to get used to knowing how to use it, but I love it. I feel like I can control the temperature better. If I want to turn in down, it goes down immediately.
This is one of my favorite cooking contraptions. It is just a cheap, simple aluminum flat plate sold locally that is the best for heating tortillas, pita bread, making corn tortillas, etc.

Last night I made squash cream soup, sliced whole wheat pita bread, sprinkled cheddar cheese in it, and toasted it on my flat pan with a little bit of olive oil.

The squash soup was made of boiled squash, sauteed onions and garlic, then all put into a blender with milk, salt, pepper, a tiny dash of curry, complete seasoning, and maybe another tiny dash of cumin. After blending it, I poured it back into the pot and let it bubble for a few minutes. Comforting for a cold (or rainy, in our case) night.

This is a Yucca root. It is much like a potato, only stringier and has more flavor. The following is how to cut and peel a yucca. If you don't know how, it can be very tricky and you can nick a finger or two. There is a process and here it is:

Slice through it several times down the root, about two to three inch slices.

You will notice a tiny ring at the rim of the slice. Slice a little cut at any point.

Then wedge your knife under the ring and begin sliding the knife down and under the ring, with an upward peeling motion.


Rinse the peeled yucca, as it tends to have dirt from the bark. Then cube to the desired size you need for what you are making.

Boil in water with salt or look online for other recipes and ways to cook it. I'm just showing you how to peel it.

I recently made this soda bread except that I added a palm full of cinnamon to it and served it for breakfast with blackberry jam, butter, or honey.



Are you hungry yet? Go cook something good and healthy. Or order take out, if you must.
I thank God for giving us the means to eat and enjoy the flavors he has created around us.

Happy Friday! See you tomorrow.
Yaawwwwn