Chicken Apple Sausage and Brussels Sprouts Hash

This is a quickie lunch I just put together from what was on hand.  And... yummm!

Nouns-

2 links chicken apple sausage, sliced in one-inch chunks

1 onion, thinly sliced

2-3 cups Brussels sprouts, stemmed and halved

1 cup croutons

2 tbsp sherry

1 cup chicken stock

olive oil

salt

pepper

Verbs-

Heat 1-2 tsp of olive oil over medium high heat.  Add the onion slices and saute for 2-3 minutes until browned and translucent.  Add the Brussels sprouts and salt and pepper to taste.  Saute 3-5 minutes until starting to caramelize and brown.  Add the sausage and continue to saute.  Then add the sherry and stir.  Add the croutons and another tsp of olive oil.  Then, add the chicken stock and stir until reduced and almost completely absorbed.  Makes lunch for two, or for me.  Top with parmesan cheese, lemon zest, pecans or whatever you have on hand that sounds yummy.

Thinking of Boston

Marathoners are crazy people.  People who miss out on sleep, time with friends and family, relaxation and other things in exchange for pain, $150 shoes that last only three months, black toenails, sweat,  and mile after mile after mile of wishing for a bathroom.  We are a band of odd, spandex-clad masochists who spend hours and hours chasing a goal with no hope of remuneration or reward, and it is a miracle that we, in our many thousands, get up at 5am on race day to get from starting line to finish line for really no good reason.

But the greater miracle by far--by far-- is that we are not alone.  Our friends and family encourage us through months of training, our partners suffer through the 5am alarm on summer Saturdays before a long run, so that our craziness, however baffling and annoying, finds support and understanding and love.  And even more amazing: on race day, our loved ones are joined by hundreds, even thousands of others.  Members of the community, runners, friends and family of other athletes, neighbors, sports fans, women, men, kids, dogs... thousands and thousands of strangers come together to reach out and cheer, to shout and wave, to hand out beer or gummy bears, to hold hand-made signs or swish pom-poms, or just to smile.

All those people are miracles.  My first half marathon was cold and wet and, against all laws of physics, uphill the entire way.  And when I started out, I kept thinking that if I could just get to the end, to see my friends, it would all be worth it.  But at each mile, or at each step, whenever I felt tired or hurt or began to doubt I could finish, a stranger, a total stranger, would tell me to keep going.  Keep Going!  You can do it! And I believed them. Those strangers, every one of them, made the journey possible, and more than possible: transcendent and affirming.  And then, at the end, after that upswell of totally unexpected support, seeing MY people, the faces in the crowd who belonged to me, holding a sign with my name on it... it was indescribable.

And every race since then, I looked to the crowd for inspiration.  Every kind of support can be found in the marathon crowd, from the genuinely heartwarming, to the silly, to the punny and profane.  They represent the very best of community and of humanity.  You never hear a marathon spectator boo anyone.  There is no trash talk, no blame, and no partisanship.  My fans cheer for everyone else on the course, and everyone else's cheer for me.  We are all in it together.

I can't stand the thought that anyone would harm those people.  Those people are my people.  Those people who made me laugh when I could barely put one foot in front of the other, who made me smile as my blisters swelled in cold wet socks, those people who were the miracles I needed when I most desperately needed them.  Those people are my people, and I am theirs.  That someone would harm them is unthinkable.  I am so so very sad, so incredibly sad, for all those killed, injured and traumatized at the Boston Marathon, and for anyone who loves or knows them, and for all the total strangers who became connected to them through the special magic of the craziness of the marathon.

Crunchy Hippie Post! Shampoo Alternatives!

I've posted before about how I mostly make my own household cleaners, and I try to make most of my food from scratch.  I generally also buy natural personal products.  I try very hard to be sure that my cosmetics, soaps, haircare, etc, are not tested on animals and don't contain carcinogens or teratogens.  I read the crunchy hippie blogs with a skeptical eye, but I do try out many of the all natural, do-it-yourself ideas to keep from buying so much packaged, chemically, expensive stuff.

Sooo, this weekend I tried the thing that I've been putting off for a while: "No-Poo."  I refuse to use that term again, because calling shampoo alternatives "no poos" makes them sound like anti-diarrheals.  In any case, I don't have the kind of life or job where I can take 6-8 weeks to allow my scalp to readjust to not washing at all, and I love the feel of clean, scented hair, so going cold-turkey was not an option.  Accordingly, a Shampoo Alternative.  I tried Baking Soda.  And is it any surprise that this handy substance that I use to clean and deoderize my house and brush my teeth and deodorize my laundry has yet another use?  I guess not.

It seemed totally counterintuitive to condition my hair with apple cider vinegar, though, which is the next step.  I mean, yes, baking soda to clean things.  I'm with you.  But vinegar is the opposite of the substance I normally use to condition.  Conditioner is creamy and oil-based and ... not vinegar.  But, what the heck, thought I.  If it's awful I'll just take another shower and use my regular shampoo and conditioner.

I mixed a tablespoon or so of baking soda with about a cup of hot water and put it in a spray bottle.  Then I mixed a few tablespoons of vinegar with hot water and put it in an old conditioner bottle.  I sprayed my wet hair at the roots with the baking soda stuff and let it sit for a few minutes before rinsing.  Then I awkwardly squirted the diluted vinegar on the ends of my hair and gradually more toward the scalp, without soaking too much near the scalp because I have oily hair.  Then I rinsed it.

And... voila!  I am convinced.  This works as well as shampoo and conditioner.  My hair looks and feels great.  Another crunchy hippie win.  I can cross shampoo and conditioner off my shopping list permanently.

Homemade Tortillas and "refried" Pinto Beans

I've posted before about how wonderfully transformative it can be to make the food you eat instead of buy it.  I realize that time is precious, and that not everyone has the wonderful resource of time that I have, but I luxuriate in the wonderful privilege of being able to craft my food.  For example, tonight, I ate tortillas, pinto beans, and a small dollop of salsa and greek yogurt for dinner.  And it was heavenly.  It was fantastic.  I cannot emphasize how wonderfully simple, nourishing and delicious it was.  I made the tortillas this afternoon,  watching each one puff up and blister on the skillet, and slow-cooked the pintos in vegetable broth with garlic, cumin and chiles until they were soft and could be smashed together for a wonderfully textured "refried" feel without adding more fat.

Oooh, yum.

Butternut Kale Noodle Casserole

This is a healthy, quick meal that keeps well and reheats well for lunches.  I made a big batch and ate it on and off all week.  Yummm.

Orange and Green Noodle Casserole
Time- about an hour
Makes 8 servings

Nouns-
1 lb whole wheat pasta- I used penne
1.5 cups nonfat Greek yogurt
1 medium butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cubed
1 bunch kale, rinsed, de-stemmed and torn into pieces
1 cup grated Gruyere cheese
1 cup walnuts
1 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp nutmeg

Verbs-
Preheat Oven to 400. Lightly grease a large casserole or 9-13 baking dish.   Roast the squash for 20-30 minutes, while preparing the rest of the casserole.  Boil and drain the pasta according to package directions, but add the kale about 1 minute before draining the pasta.

In a large bowl, stir together the yogurt, garlic, cheese and spices.  Thin with water or with a little milk or vegetable broth if it is too thick.  Add the noodles, kale, squash, onions and walnuts and toss to thoroughly combine.  If the yogurt mixture does not cover the other ingredients, add a little milk to thin it.  Once the mixture is well combined, pour it into the baking dish, cover with aluminum foul or the dish lid, if it has one, and bake for 15-30 minutes, until bubbly and hot in the middle.

Crockpot Sweet Potato Chicken Curry

This is a super easy weekday meal.  Yum!

Nouns-
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 can diced tomatoes
1 cup dry chickpeas
1/2 cup raisins
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into half-inch chunks
1/2 onion, sliced
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp curry powder
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp ginger
3 cups chicken broth

1/4 cup slivered almonds
1 cup peas
rice or couscous or quinoa for serving

Verbs-
Put all the first group of ingredients in the crock and cook on high 4 hours, or on low 8 hours.  Stir in the almonds and peas and cook another half hour.  Serve over rice or cous cous or quinoa.  Or, if you want, add more broth and eat as a stew.  Yummm!

Why it's so hard to food blog... or... how to make meatballs

Food blogging is hard for me, because though I love food and cooking, and I think about food and cooking almost constantly, I have a hard time capturing my favorite meals into recipes.  I just don't keep track of what I make and how I make it in an organized way, despite the meal-planning and food blogging and Pinterest and whatnot.  Recently on several occasions I've scrabbled around looking for a recipe I made awhile ago, trying to recreate something that was AWESOME, but that now I can't figure out how I made.  That particular lemon cake I made for a friend's birthday last year?  Yeah, he'd love to have it again.  But I have no earthly clue which one it was.

And at least lemon cake is a recipe!  I've had people ask me how to make my favorite things and I have not so much a recipe as a general description of things I do and things you could put in if you feel like it.  It's not super helpful, and I often forget important steps and some ingredients.

Even when I'm setting out to blog a recipe and trying hard to keep track of everything I do and put in, I forget things, forget to take pictures of the steps or the finished product, etc.

For example: Meatballs and Caramelized Onion Gravy
A sort-of recipe

Nouns:
Ground turkey- one package, I don't know how much that is.  But, you know, a package of ground turkey.
An egg or two
breadcrumbs or oats-- a cup maybe?  Less than that, probably?
half an onion, diced, or a whole onion if you want
half an onion, sliced thinly
chicken broth
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp flour
Worcestershire sauce
ketchup
garlic


Verbs- gently squish the ground turkey, crumbs and onion together, add in some diced garlic if you remember.  Add one egg and a dash or two of Worchestershire and ketchup.  If it seems to be not holding together well enough, add another egg.  Don't overmix, be gentle.

Set up your stove thusly: bowl of raw meatball mix stuff on counter next to frying pan. Frying pan on medium heat with some oil in it.  On the other burner, a large high-sided pan like a dutch oven or big saucepan, with the sliced onion caramelizing in it.

Now you're ready to make meatballs!  Form the meaty stuff into balls... I make them them an inch and a half to two inches in diameter.  Gently compress the mixture into the ball shape and saute it in the oil in the frying pan, turning very gently so that all sides are browned.  You have to do this in batches, because you don't want to crowd the frying pan.  When your first batch is done, you can transfer it to the other pot with the caramelized onions.  But FIRST, pour in enough chicken broth to come close to covering the meatballs, and turn the pot to a simmer.  Add the meatballs gently.  Keep frying your meatballs to brown them, adding oil as necessary to the pan to keep them from sticking.  Once all the meatballs are transferred to the simmering broth, add more broth to cover.  Simmer for a while... depending on how long it took you to make the meatballs and get them all fried.  Make sure they are all cooked through, obviously.  Then, microwave the butter and flour together until all the butter is melted through and the flour has turned golden brown.  90 seconds should be more than plenty.  Add that mixture to the broth and gently stir to thicken.

Meatballs and gravy are great over mashed potatoes, egg noodles, rice pilaf... anything you please.  Yummmm.