Royal Wedding Tea

I discovered Harney and Sons teas while staying in a fabulous B&B in Charleston.  My new favorite tea is their Hot Cinnamon Spice.  Lee found their website and surprised me by buying a large package of their sachets.  I need my coffee in the morning, but I drink tea all afternoon.

  

I finished the first bag of tea and Lee ordered me some more.  On their site he noticed they were carrying Royal Wedding Tea to join the celebration of the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markel.

This is a white tea, which is the least processed of all teas. It is loaded with antioxidants and provides many health benefits.  You can read about white tea here.

  

Royal Wedding Tea is a blend of white tea, with rose petals, blue cornflower, and marigold petals.  It has natural almond, coconut and vanillas flavors.  The tea has a wonderful scent, almost a chocolate flavor and smell.  It is quite nice and I really enjoy it.

It has been quite warm recently and I thought I would try making iced tea out of the wedding tea.  After all, we live in the South and we are all about the iced tea.

  

I put water that was almost boiling in a large heat proof container.   I used a one quart Pyrex measuring cup because of the pouring lip.  I placed six sachets in the hot water for about 5 minutes.  You don't want to leave them in longer than that. Tea can get bitter if it is left in the water for a long time.

While the water is still hot, add any sweetener you may like.  It isn't necessary, but the flavors really pop with some sugar.  I used Splenda.  Don't make it super sweet, unless you are one of those sweet tea types, but too much will overpower the delicate flavors of this tea.

When the sugar (or your favorite sweetener) has dissolved and the tea has cooled a bit, pour it over a 2 quart pitcher mostly full of ice.

  

This tea is a delicate and refreshing tea and strangely perfect for iced tea!  East meets South!!

  

Peach Tea

In the summer I drink a lot of iced tea.  I also like Snapple iced tea, particularly the Peach Tea.  In order to keep my sugar consumption lower, I tend to drink the diet version.

My aunts like to make iced tea by boiling water and adding a bunch of tea bags.  After they steep, they pour the concentrated tea over a pitcher filled with ice.  It is probably better to let the hot tea cool a bit before you add it to the icy pitcher.  I do, because I don't want the rapid change in temperature to crack the glass pitcher.

Snapple is delicious, but can get expensive.  It is currently peach season, so I bought a bunch and sacrificed a few to the iced tea I wanted to make.

The first batch of iced tea, I used one peach.  The tea was insufficiently peachy.  The second batch I made was with two peaches and was peachier.  Because I was trying to keep this low calorie, in order to eat high calorie other stuff, I used Splenda to sweeten the tea.

Peach Tea

3 cups water
2 peaches, roughly chopped.
6 bags Red Rose Tea, or tea of your choice
1/2 cup Splenda
ice



Chop the peaches up in medium chunks.  Don't bother to peel them, but remove the pit. 

 

Place the peaches in a large sauce pan and add the water.  Bring it to a boil.  Boil for about 15 minutes or until very soft.

 

Remove the pan from the heat and add the tea bags.  Let them steep for about 4 minutes.  You don't want to do this too long.  Tea can become bitter, so remove and toss the tea bags.

Add the Splenda or regular sugar to taste.  I used a heaping 1/2 cup of Splenda.  I like sweet tea, but not syrup tea as is frequently served in the south.  Stir to combine.  Add a few ice cubes to cool the tea a bit more.

 

Pour the peach tea mixture through a strainer into a pitcher filled with ice.  Use the back of a spoon to mash the softened peaches and get as much flavor into the tea as you can.  Discard the remainder of peach and peel.

 


Stir to chill and serve over ice.  Or place in the refrigerator for a treat all day long.

The Best Quick Dessert

I wanted a quick and easy dessert.  The strawberries are still good and I thought about a strawberry shortcake.  But I was going to be gone most of the day with company and I had to make dinner, too.

This is what I came up with and it was SOOOO good and fast and easy.  I'm calling it Strawberry Quick Cake.  I highly recommend it

 

Strawberry Quick Cake

1 store bought Angel Food Cake
1 1/2 cups sliced strawberries
1 or 2 teaspoons Blackberry and Ginger balsamic vinegar.  I didn't measure, just drizzled
1 teaspoon Splenda
a few twists of black pepper
Best vanilla ice cream from your market

Slice the strawberries. Sprinkle them with Splenda or sugar if you don't have or don't use Splenda.  Add a few twists of fresh ground pepper.  Stir to coat.

 

Drizzle them with a bit of the balsamic vinegar.  Most places have a store that specializes in olive oils and vinegars.  That's where I got mine.  You can use a good quality PLAIN balsamic vinegar, but this was divine.  Stir again and let sit until time for dessert.

 

Place some thin slices of the Angel Food cake in a large cereal bowl.  Top with a generous scoop of ice cream.  Place the strawberries on top of the ice cream. 

 

You may wish to drizzle a bit of the balsamic vinegar left in the bowl over the ice cream and allow it to make rich, burgundy swirls in the white Angel Food cake.

 

So good.  So fast.  So, I'm going to fix it again!!

Paleo Meatloaf

We have been working until dinner, so dinner has been a bag salad.  yum.  not.

I have been craving meatloaf for some reason.  But that is not on my diet of no carbs.  I made some baked chicken tenders using almond meal and wondered if that could be used in a meat loaf.  A little 'net surfing showed that not only was it possible, but it moved regular meat loaf into the Paleo diet category.  Not that we eat Paleo, but if I wanted to, I could eat this meatloaf.

Here is a quote from Wikipedia   " Centered on commonly available modern foods, the "contemporary" Paleolithic diet consists mainly of fish, grass-fed pasture raised meats, eggs, vegetables, fruit, fungi, roots, and nuts, and excludes grains, legumes, dairy products, refined salt, refined sugar, and processed oils.^[1][" 

So instead of adding bread crumbs, or my favorite addition, oatmeal, I used almond flour.  I found mine in Trader Joe's.  It did taste a bit different, but it was still good and fit my diet and WASN'T another salad, so I liked it!

I made mine with mashed cauliflower instead of mashed potatoes, like I really wanted.  I saved some of the sautéed onions and garlic for that recipe.  If you are not making mashed SOMETHING you can put it all in the meatloaf, or use a bit less.

Meatloaf with Almond Flour

1 onion
2 teaspoons garlic, minced
EVOO
If you like roasted garlic in things, add a few heads of garlic
1 pound ground beef
1 egg
1 can tomato sauce, divided use
1/2 cup almond meal

dash salt and pepper (s&p)
dash cayenne
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon coriander
1/2 teaspoon chili powder



These are the spices and flavorings I used.  My meatloaf is different every time I make it, depending on my mood and what is in my pantry.  If there are things you like in a meatloaf, feel free to use them instead.

  

Preheat the oven to 350.  Spray a loaf pan and set aside.

  

If you are making mashed cauliflower and want to make some roasted garlic to add to it, take a few heads of garlic and peel off all the loose skin.  Cut off the tops. 

  

Place them on a sheet of aluminum foil large enough to wrap around them and drizzle olive oil (EVOO) on top.  Sprinkle with s&p and wrap tightly.  Set aside.

  

Dice a large onion and cook it in some more EVOO until it is softened and translucent.  Add the minced garlic, s&p and cook for one minute more.  Set aside and allow to cool.

  

Place the egg in a large mixing bowl.  Whip it a few times with a fork.  Add 1/2 cup of the tomato sauce.  (I am using this instead of ketchup.  Avoiding sugar.)  Then add all the spices and the parsley.  Use my suggestions or what you like to use.  Stir to mix. 

  

Add the ground beef to the mix and blend with the same fork.  Add most of the cooked onion and garlic, reserving about 1/4 for the cauliflower. Add the almond flour.  Mix all that in.

  

Place the meat mixture in the prepared pan.  I have always used ketchup on top of meatloaf in the past, but decided to use the rest of the tomato sauce to cover the meat.  Then bake for one hour.  Place the foil wrapped garlic in next to the meatloaf and let it cook for the same hour.

  

Remove from the oven and let cool for about 15 or 20 minutes.  Don't forget to remove the garlic bundle.

Cole Slaw

I had some purchased shredded slaw in the refrigerator.  I made a quick dressing for two servings by placing

1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon wine vinegar
1/4 teaspoon poppy seeds
1/2 teaspoon Splenda...OK it's not Paleo, but it isn't sugar!
dash salt

in a bowl and stirring.  Add to the shredded cabbage in a medium serving bowl, mix and return to the fridge for the flavors to mellow and mix while you finish dinner.

I have given the recipe for mashed cauliflower before, but basically you chop it into little flowerets and steam.  Then mash with butter, cream and the onion/garlic mixture with some salt and pepper. By this time the roasted garlic will have cooled enough to open the foil and squeeze out the creamy brown cloves of deliciousness.  Squeeze them right into the cauliflower and mix them in.

  

Just so you know, this will not taste like creamy garlic mashed potatoes.  It can't.  But Lee likes it and it is as close as I will get to mashed potatoes until after my high school reunion, OK?  I may not lose weight, but I refuse to GAIN weight for the reunion!

I don't usually make this much food for just the two of us, but it will make for great leftovers when I don't feel like cooking after a long day in the basement..

Better Thai Chicken Burgers with Vegetable Curry

I recently posted a recipe for Thai Chicken Burgers.  They were pretty good, but the "Thai" part was mostly coconut milk and some cilantro.  I mentioned that they needed some peanut sauce.   The recipe made enough for a few more meals for the two of us, so I froze the rest.  My daughter, Tara, suggested I use the rest of the coconut milk in a curry.  A meal is born. 

Best of all, this meal is very Atkins friendly.  I am currently tortur following that particularly boring diet.  But this was good!  And not just the same old salad!  Sure it's low carb, but if you aren't worried about that, serve the curry over some fluffy, aromatic jasmine rice.  Oooh.  That sounds good.  But that's not what we had.

   

Vegetable Curry

Well you're gonna be making the Thai Burgers, right?  You will end up with about 1 cup of coconut milk left over.  Use that for this dish.

2 Tablespoons minced onion
1 teaspoon minced garlic
oil for cooking
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon curry
1/2 teaspoon salt or more to taste
1 cup coconut milk
2 cups diced Vegetables  I used 1 zucchini, 1 yellow squash and a small handful of green beans.  Cauliflower would be terrific, too.

   


Finely chop some cilantro leaves.  Remove the thicker stems.  Divided use.

   

Place a small amount of oil in a medium fry pan and heat to medium.   Add the onions and garlic and cook for about 3 minutes.  It will start to smell like an Indian restaurant.

   

 Add the diced vegetables and cook for one more minute, stirring to coat them.  They will turn sort of yellow.

   

Add the coconut milk.  heat to just below a boil and then cover and reduce to a simmer.  Cook for 20 minutes or until the vegetable are soft.

While they are cooking get to work on your ...


Better Thai Burgers

OK.  The recipe is two posts down.  Go there and make the burgers.  Not point is putting it here twice, but basically you put chicken breast with coconut milk and a few other things in a food processor and then fry up the meat into patties.  Here is where it gets REALLY delicious.  You are going to make a quick and delicious...

 Peanut Sauce

1/2 cup chunky peanut butter
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon sugar or for those trying to eat low carb, Splenda
1/4 teaspoon ground (or freshly minced) ginger
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon rice vinegar
1/2 cup water.

   

Place everything in a small saucepan and heat over low heat.  At first you will think you did something wrong.  Well, I did.  It seems too thin for peanut sauce. 

   

Heat for about 10 to 15 minutes and it will thicken right up.  Serve over the finished Thai burgers.

   

Sprinkle the cilantro over the burgers with the sauce and the vegetable curry.  If you are lucky your husband will think it is delicious.  Mine did!

Pineapple Peanut Coleslaw

                              

Usually I write a list before going to the grocery store.  I know what I want and try to stick to it.  Sometimes while shopping, I will see something I want that is NOT on the list.  And that is why we had coleslaw last night.  It caught our eye while buying salad and so we picked up a bag of shredded cabbage.  We didn't see any dressings we liked so I made one up.  Plus, I didn't want a big jar of dressing that would sit in the fridge and take up room when we don't have coleslaw all that often.  The power outage really cleaned out my refrigerator and I don't want to clutter it all up again!

Pineapple Peanut Coleslaw

1 bag Dole Shredded Cabbage for Coleslaw, or just shred your own, make a big mess and then chop some carrots and use a bit of purple cabbage and try to find a use for it before it spoils.

Pineapple tidbits in cups.  The rest are good for a snack or to take for lunch and you don't have to use them up before they spoil.  Sheesh!  It is way more complicated to cook for two people than a family!

1/4 cup peanuts chopped.  I like them and it could have used more but that is all I had left because SOMEONE ate the rest when I wasn't looking.

1/2 cup mayonnaise

2 Tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vinegar

1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon Splenda
salt and pepper

I didn't have any, but it could have used a few Tablespoons chopped cilantro.

                             

Drain the pineapple juice into a cup and then drink it. ( Waste not, want not.)  Chop the pineapple and the peanuts.  Place them in a fairly large salad bowl.

Put the milk and the vinegar in a small bowl, stir and let sit for a few minutes.  This is my version of buttermilk when I don't have the real thing.  I won't buy it for a few Tablespoons worth.

                                

Mix the mayo, lemon juice, and the s & p in with the pineapples.  Add the milk and stir.  I decided it needed a bit of sweetening, so I added a teaspoon of Splenda.  You may not like it sweet, so taste it first before adding any sweetener. 

Dump the cabbage in the bowl and toss gently.  If you have cilantro, mix it in at the same time.

(Next year I will try to grow cilantro.  I like it a lot and can't always find it in the store.  Plus, I only need a bit at a time and hate to buy a bunch and then toss it.  SO, note to self, plant cilantro...)

Strawberry Peanut Salad

                              

We just came back from a trip to Michigan.  When eating out, I try to order salads as much as possible to counteract all the fast food along the way.  I love the salads that you can get with strawberries and pecans.  On this trip I found salads with strawberries and cashews instead of pecans.  I had some strawberries and some peanuts and thought, "Why not?"

Strawberry and Peanut Salad

                        

It just so happened that I had a Dole salad kit.  Romaine salad with something like a raspberry vinaigrette dressing would also be great.

                         

Sliced strawberries ( I like to Sprinkle them with a bit of Splenda)
A handful ( maybe 1/4 cup?) of peanuts

Done.  Oh, yeah.  You gotta toss it all together.

                       

We had this with a Peach Mango Smoothie and it was more than the two of us could eat.  So I picked out the strawberries and most of the peanuts and tossed the last little bit.  Good thing I have a compost pile so that I can let myself throw stuff away.  Or I would be a lot fatter.

Zucchini Squares

The best thing about cooking is that I am inside with air conditioning and I am still being productive.  I an even watch TV while working.  The second best thing is eating what I made, assuming it is edible.  I do like to experiment with recipes

After finding some great zucchini and basil in the garden, I decided to use them for dinner.  I just bought a Bisquick All-Time Best Recipe book at the grocery store.  I have a rule of thumb for purchasing those small paper cover/magazine recipe books at the grocery check out.  If I can find at least five things I want to make, then I get it.  This one had more than that, so now it is mine.

                      
Notice all the paper strips that indicate a recipe I want to try.

As usual, I don't have or want to use everything in the recipe, so I change it to suit me.  Accordingly I renamed it to fit my rendition.

Zucchini Squares.

1 medium sized zucchini, about 1 1/2 cups thinly sliced
1/2 cup Heart Smart Bisquick
1/2 onion cup onion, diced
1/4 cup grated Parmesan Cheese
2 Tablespoons basil,  thinly sliced
2 eggs
1 teaspoon chopped garlic
1/4 teaspoon Fines Herbes or use Italian Seasonings
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
salt and pepper

Pre-heat the oven to 350.  Use Pam to spray a 2 quart casserole dish.  Set aside.

I got a mandoline slicer for Christmas, so I had to use it to slice the zucchini.  Feel free to just thinly slice it by hand.

                            

Place the onions and the zucchini in a medium bowl.  I added the eggs whole on one side and then whipped them around with a fork in the same dish. 

                          

There is a technique called chiffonade for cutting up herbs.  First wash the basil and dry it with a paper towel.  Gently tear off the leaves and stack them up, one on top of the other.  Roll the stack into a long tube, like a cigarette.  Then thinly slice across the tube.  This is chiffonade and will give you thin slices of the herb you need.  In this case, the basil.

                       

Add the basil and everything else to the mixing bowl and make sure it is fully mixed.  Scrape everything into the prepared casserole and bake for 25 minutes or until it starts to brown.  Cut into squares and serve.

                          

If I had more than just the two of us to feed, I would have used this as a side dish and made a salad or some sort of meat.  Maybe pork chops or chicken breast.  This was just fine for the two of us. 

                            

I did make some fruit to go along with it.  I sliced up strawberries and fresh peaches from the Bryant Orchards, where we buy all our peaches in the summer.  I would have sprinkled lemon juice on the peaches to keep them from browning, but I neglected to buy new lemon juice after our power outage, so I just hoped they wouldn't turn colors.  I like to sprinkle a bit of Splenda on the strawberries on the theory that shipping them from where ever they grow them means they were picked too soon.  They are never as sweet as when they are locally grown, hence the Splenda.

                             

I served the fruit in a glass dish with a bit of Cool Whip, but a dollop of vanilla yogurt would have been great, also.

There are leftovers for tomorrow when I WILL make a salad.

Help! I Forgot The Limes!

One of the advantages of having mint growing outside is that I can decide to have a Mojito whenever I want.  I had purchased some rum and club soda for just this possibility, but I forgot the limes.  Some time ago I had wanted some lime juice and bought one of those plastic lime bottles with lime juice inside.  I never used it and eventually threw it out.  I found a product called True Lime and bought it for just this contingency.

I'm also avoiding sugar when I can, so I didn't make a simple syrup.  This is when you mix equal parts of sugar and water and heat it sufficiently to melt the sugar.  This is the simple syrup they use in a lot of drink recipes. 

This is my OK,  but not as good as the original,  Skinny mojito.  Make it for yourself on a hot day, but use simple sugar and REAL limes for company!

                                    

Skinny Mojito, with out real limes:-( 

mint
Splenda (because we wouldn't want to use simple syrup, I forget why)
crushed ice
limes (or True Lime for those of us that live in the country and can't keep them from going bad before we use them!  Hey!  I just found a reason to miss California.)
Rum
Club soda

Go out to your garden and pick some mint. See the lady bug?  Don't pick those leaves.   I have 60 acres so I can plant mint in my garden.  Unless you want a whole yard full of mint, you should plant it in a pot.  I don't mind if the hay gets minty.  Fresher breath for the cows and horses.

                              

 
Rinse the mint carefully.  I found a bug on mine.  Gross, man.

Tear off some of the smaller leaves and place in the bottom of a tall glass.  Add the sweetener of your choice and a 1/2 cup or so of crushed ice.  I have a muddler.  It is a long wooden stick with a knob on the end.  Use a wooden spoon if you don't have one and tamp down on the ice, Splenda and mint to release the flavor of the mint to the sweetener and the ice.

                                  

Add a shot (or 2!!!) of rum and fill the rest of the glass with the club soda.

The thing I like about a mojito is how refreshing it is.  The mint and the lime go great with the club soda.  You can adjust the sweetener to suit and you can even leave the rum out if you are so inclined.  I'm NOT so inclined.  So there.