Homemade Easter Egg Dye {and a Le Creuset giveaway!}

March 20, 2013 by 5 Comments

IMG 3533 e1363654084755 Homemade Easter Egg Dye {and a Le Creuset giveaway!}

Here comes Peter Cottontail, hoppin’ down the bunny trail; Hippity-hoppity, Easter’s on it’s waaaaaay…

I’m sorry. I couldn’t help myself. I am my mother’s child, after all.

Those of you who know both of us are shaking your heads in exhausted agreement right now.

I have an early Easter surprise for all of you: Today on Food Fanatic, I am sharing some recipes for homemade Easter egg dyes, free of mystery chemicals that we want to keep away from those precious little hands.

And guess what? In celebration of their gorgeous French oven colors, Le Creuset also developed three homemade Easter egg dyes to match their Caribbean blue, Cassis purple, and {new!} Soleil yellow. I recently received one of their 5 1/2-quart French ovens in the beautiful new Soleil, and let me tell you – it is gorgeous. Would it be wrong to set it on my coffee table and call it art?

And the best news! Le Creuset wants YOU to have one of their French ovens as well! They are giving three lucky readers the chance to win one of their 5 1/2-quart French ovens, one in each of the aforementioned colors. Head on over to Food Fanatic to find out how you can enter to win and to learn how to dye your own Easter eggs!

Filed Under: Miscellaneous Tagged With: , ,

Spinach and Kale Pesto

January 7, 2013 by 13 Comments

IMG 2705 e1357609103714 Spinach and Kale Pesto

I’m trying to watch The Bachelor while I write this.

Scratch that. I’m trying to write this while I watch The Bachelor.

I’m sorry if images of Sean with his shirt off cause me to not be quite as articulate as normal.

In fact, you know what? Let’s just get to the recipe.

What we’ve got here is a gorgeous, down-to-earth guy…oh wait. That’s Sean again. Crap.

Ok, seriously. This pesto is delicious, but packed with healthy, nutrient-packed spinach and kale. Use it as you would any other pesto! In fact, my friend Stef has a great way for you to use it on some roasted potatoes. (And no, we did not confer about our kale pesto-making ahead of time.)

Have some pesto left over? Store it in an airtight container and store it in the freezer. When you’re ready to use it again, just thaw it out and you’ll be ready to go.

Print
Spinach and Kale Pesto
Yield: Over 1 cup of pesto
 

Ingredients
  • 2 cups chopped kale, stems removed
  • 2 cups spinach
  • 1-2 cloves garlic
  • ¼ cup Parmesan cheese
  • ¼ cup toasted, slivered almonds
  • ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions
  1. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Add the kale and cook for 1 minute. Immediately drain and dunk into ice-cold water to halt the cooking. Drain and wring out any excess water.
  2. In a food processor, combine the kale, spinach, garlic, cheese and almonds. Pulse to combine. While the machine is running, stream in the olive oil, adding a little more until you reach your desired consistency. Add salt and pepper to taste, and pulse to combine again.

 

Filed Under: Miscellaneous Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Texas Cranberry Chutney

November 5, 2012 by 10 Comments

texas cranberry chutney e1352164473164 Texas Cranberry Chutney

Guys. It’s that time of year again.

It’s time to start thinking about your Thanksgiving menu.

Dun dun dunnnnnnnn…

Ok, I know that, logically, Thanksgiving is still a few weeks away. But trust me, that time is going to fly by and the holiday will be here before we know it! And if you start planning your menus bit by bit now, you will be amazed at how much less stressed and overwhelmed you will feel the week of Thanksgiving.

I used to give a similar speech to my college roommates regarding why I always started research papers early. They all gave me the blank stares I feel like you’re giving your computer screens now.

So we’ll start off small. No turkey recipes, not even a major side dish. We’ll start with a cranberry recipe…just to ease you into the swing of things.

IMG 2523 e1352164619897 Texas Cranberry Chutney

This is my aunt’s famous cranberry chutney recipe, which I have altered ever-so-slightly (her’s uses canned cranberry sauce as the base, but I found that it really only takes about 5 extra minutes and minimal effort to start with a base of fresh cranberries – and think of the preservatives that we are cutting out! Holla!). My dad and uncle literally INHALE this stuff every Thanksgiving and Christmas. Forget just putting it on turkey…they eat it with ham, with pork, on leftover turkey sandwiches, by the spoonful…truly, my aunt can never make enough of it to keep them happy. And the best part? Not only is it a snap to prepare, but it gets better the longer it sets, which means that you are better off making it the day before and crossing one more thing off of your Thanksgiving Day to-do list.

And since it is a little tart, a little sweet and a little spicy, it is sure to please everyone’s varying taste buds.

And I think that’s something for which we can all be thankful.

IMG 2530 e1352164572583 Texas Cranberry Chutney

Print
Texas Cranberry Chutney
 

Ingredients
  • 12 ounces fresh or frozen cranberries
  • ¾ cup granulated sugar
  • ¾ cup water
  • 1 20-ounce can crushed pineapple
  • ¼ cup packed brown sugar
  • ½ teaspoon ground ginger
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 1-2 jalapeños, seeded and minced
  • 3 chopped green onions

Instructions
  1. Using a fine mesh strainer, thoroughly drain the pineapple and pat dry with paper towels. Set aside.
  2. In a saucepan, combine cranberries, water and granulated sugar over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to medium and allow to cook for about 5 minutes, until the cranberries are starting to break down.
  3. Stir in the pineapple, brown sugar, ginger and salt. Return to a boil then reduce heat to low and simmer until thickened, about 5 minutes. (At this point, you may want to taste the sauce for tartness – if it is too tart, add 1 to 2 more tablespoons of granulated sugar.)
  4. Remove from heat, add jalapeño (or jalapeños, depending on how hot you want your chutney to be) and green onions. Cover and allow to chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours, though overnight is best.

 

Filed Under: Miscellaneous Tagged With: , , , , ,

Homemade Taco (and Chili) Seasoning

September 19, 2012 by 12 Comments

taco seasoning 1 e1347943587872 Homemade Taco (and Chili) Seasoning

I’ve talked a little bit before about preservatives and why I try to avoid them as much as possible in my own diet.

Earlier this week I made you a quick and easy meal of chicken and noodles made in the crock pot. The original recipe used two cans of condensed cream soup. My version is just as quick, easy and delicious, and totally eliminates the need for condensed soup.

It also proves something big: processed “convenience” foods are not always that much more convenient.

taco seasoning e1347943621431 Homemade Taco (and Chili) Seasoning

Take this homemade taco (or chili) seasoning, for example. You probably already have the ingredients in your pantry. It will take you approximately 5 minutes to measure, mix and store away the equivalent of several packages of the store-bought stuff. And, it’s already made and on hand whenever you need it.

Couldn’t be easier.

Check back next week when I will give you an idea of how to use it!

Print
Homemade Taco (and Chili) Seasoning
Yield: Approximately ½ cup of seasoning
 

Ingredients
  • 6 teaspoons chili powder
  • 5 teaspoons paprika
  • 4½ teaspoons cumin
  • 2½ teaspoons garlic powder
  • 3 teaspoons dried onion
  • 2 teaspoons oregano
  • ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

Instructions
  1. Combine ingredients. Store in an airtight container with your other spices.
To use:
  1. Use 3 tablespoons of seasoning for each pound of meat in tacos or chili. For taco meat, add 3 tablespoons of seasoning and ¾ cup of water to 1 pound of cooked meat and simmer until water has evaporated.

Notes
Adjust the heat level in your mix by adding more cayenne pepper. This recipe makes a relatively mild mix, so add a bit more cayenne if you like things spicier.

 

Filed Under: Miscellaneous Tagged With: , , ,

Fig Butter

August 20, 2012 by 11 Comments

IMG 2280 e1345506498992 Fig Butter

A couple of weeks ago two of my best friends moved to Miami, Florida.

In between what Erin likes to refer to as the “daily monsoons”, it is apparently balls hot there. Meanwhile, as soon as they left Chicago, it dropped from 90+ degrees every day to mid-70s.

In other words: As soon as my friends moved to where it is summer year-round, it became fall here. I’m not complaining.

IMG 2241 e1345506593367 Fig Butter

With the advent of being able to sleep with my windows open and straighten my hair again came the desire for fall flavors. While I am perhaps not to the pumpkin stage yet – although we all know how I prefer sweet potatoes to pumpkin anyway – and am still a couple of weeks away from being able to bust out the apple recipes, I was definitely craving something akin to apple butter the other day.

Enter: Fig butter.

IMG 2243 e1345506637628 Fig Butter

This stuff is easy to make (is anyone else noticing that I’m on an easy recipe kick lately?). It requires essentially no effort or active time from you. Soak, simmer, puree, chill. Done.

So what are we going to do with our fig butter? First, put it on a piece of toast. Next…well, you’ll find that out later this week. But I will tell you this: it’s ridiculously easy, too.

Someday I’ll stop being lazy. Maybe.

Just kidding.

IMG 2279 e1345506539143 Fig Butter

Fig Butter

Makes about 1 1/2 cups

1 cup dried figs (about 6 ounces), stems removed

1 1/2 cups pressed apple juice

2 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon triple sec (optional, though highly recommended – you could also substitute the same amount of orange juice)

Place figs in a medium sauce pot. Cover with apple juice; allow to soak for 15 minutes.

Add sugar and triple sec; stir to combine. Bring mixture to a boil, then reduce heat and allow to simmer for 20-25 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

Puree mixture in a blender or food processor until smooth. The butter may seem a little runny at first, but once it chills it will thicken up considerably.

Fig butter will last, in an airtight container in the refrigerator, for at least a week, probably closer to 10 days.

Filed Under: Miscellaneous Tagged With: , , , , , ,