Chocolate Cornflakes Balls

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If you want to make some attractive kid's friendly cereal balls, give a try to this super quick,easy breezy and attractive balls with chocolate and cornflakes.Actually i want to finish some leftover cornflakes sitting since a long in my pantry, finally i finished them as these quick and addictive balls for our yesterday snacks. My kids couldnt stop themselves having this healthy delicious balls. I used confectioner's sugar for coating so that these balls looked exactly like snow balls.

Today is our last day of blogging marathon, as i choosed Kid's delight as theme, these cute balls suits prefectly and am sending them to Srivalli's  Kid's Delight-Anniversary Potluck Party.. Check out the other bloggers running this 21st edition here.


3cups Cornflakes (grind bit coarsely)
1/2cup Powdered sugar
4tbsp Unsweetened cocoa powder
4tbsp Butter (melted)
Milk ( as per need)
Confectioner's sugar (as per need)

Take the grounded cornflakes,powdered sugar and unsweetened cocoa powder in a mixing bowl.

Now add the melted butter and mix everything well.

Sprinkle enough milk and turn everything as a thick mixture.

Take enough mixture and roll it as medium sized balls, roll this balls in confectioner's sugar and conserve them in an air tightened box.

Enjoy anytime of the day.

Tangy Black-eyed Peas & Fenugreek Seeds Gravy With Coconut Paste/Karamani Kaara Kuzhambu

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Our week menu will definitely have fingerlicking tangy gravies atleast once a week. I used to prepare this tangy gravies either with veggies or either with beans. For this week menu, i made this droolworthy,delicious gravy with cooked black-eyed peas and fenugreek seeds with coconut paste and a spice powder prepared with just coriander and fenugreek seeds.

This gravy tastes super delicious when served simply with a bowl of hot steaming rice and fried papads. They tastes even more delicious after a day and stay prefect for a week if they are conserved in fridge in an air-tightened box.Usually i dont add coconut paste in my gravies, but this time i prepared this gravy with coconut paste as our this month's Magic Mingle challenge's magic ingredients goes for fenugreek seeds and coconut. This gravy will satisfy your tastebuds and definitely one of the best way to sneak this bitter fenugreek seeds.



2cups Cooked black-eyed peas
1+1/2cups Tamarind extract
1tsp Red chilly powder
1no Onion( large & cubed)
1no Tomato (big & juicy)
5nos Garlic cloves (crushed)
1/2tsp Mustardseeds
1/4tsp Fenugreek seeds
1/2tsp Cumin seeds
Few curry leaves
1/4cup Gingelly oil
Salt

To grind:
1/4cup Grated coconut
1tsp Fennel seeds

To roast & grind:
2tbsp Coriander seeds1tsp Fenugreek seeds
Grind the coconut and fennel seeds together as fine paste and keep aside.
Meanwhile dry roast the coriander seeds and fenugreek seeds together and grind as fine powder,keep aside.
Heat the gingelly oil, let splutters the mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds,curry leaves and cumin seeds, add immediately the cubed onions, crushed garlic cloves,curry leaves and chopped tomatoes,saute everything until the onions turns transculent.

Add the cooked beans to the veggies, cook for few minutes, now add the tamarind extract, red chilly powder along with salt and cook for few minutes with lid closed.

Finally add the coconut paste,grounded coriander-fenugreek powder and cook until the oil gets separates and put off the stove..

Serve along with rice and papads.

Papdi/Papri & Mint Chutney N Sweet Tamarind Chutney for Chaat

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Papdi or papris are small round shaped deep fried biscuitss made with refined white flour and oil, with ajwain or kalonji seeds to enchance the flavour.Papris are usually served in North Indian fast foods called chaat, papri chaat is quite famous street food in Mumbai and this dish is often eaten in streets. This papdi or papri are very important for making bhelpuri chaat.

Some people may use gram flour and wheat flour along with white flour for making these papdis, but nothing will beat the taste of papdis prepared with maida flour.In India, we can get easily these papdi from stores, but here in Paris its quite a hard task to get them, thats why i prepared these crispy biscuits at home also at the same time i prepared some green mint chutney and sweet tamarind chutney. These chutneys are the most  essential chutneys used in almost every chaats served in Chaat food shops.


1cup All purpose flour/Maida
1/2tsp Ajwain seeds
1/4tsp Kalonji/Onion seeds
Salt
Oil for kneading
Oil for deepfrying

Take the maida,oil for kneading,kalonji seeds, ajwain seeds and mix well.

Now slowly add the water and make a smooth sough,keep aside closed with damp cloth for 15minutes.

Knead well the dough again,pinch the dough as two portion, roll a portion as a large circle and with a round cookie cutter make out small thin circles. Prick it with forks.

Heat enough oil for deep frying, once the oil gets hot, slowly drop the circles and allow to cook.

Flip it and cook on both sides until they turns golden brown, fry in small batches and drain the excess of oil in a paper towel.

Store this papdi in an air tight box and use when needed.

Green Chutney/Mint Chutney:


1cup Mint leaves
1/2cup Coriander leaves
1/4cup Raw mango (grated)
1no Green chilly
Salt
1tsp Lemon juice
1/4tsp Sugar

Blend the mint leaves, coriander leaves,grated raw mango,green chilly with salt,sugar and lemon juice as smooth paste.

Store in an air tight container and serve as per need.

Sweet Tamarind Chutney:


1no Small orange sized tamarind 'deseeded)
1/2cup Seedless dates
3/4cup Jaggery
1/2tsp Red chilly powder
1/2tsp Cumin powder
Water
Salt

Soak small orange sized tamarind in 2cups of warm water and bring it to boil and put off the heat.

Blend together this tamarind paste and seedless dates as smooth paste.Strain it through a sieve.

Transfer this paste to a pan and cook in medium flame with jaggery,red chilly powder, cumin powder and salt until the chutney turns thick.

Once cool, store it in an air tight box and refrigerate for further use.

Bhelpuri Chaat~~SNC Challenge

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Being a South Indian, i would love to cook and eat North Indian foods, just i love their foods. Every month, if you get a chance to cook from this part of India, who will say no, definitely not me. When Divya of You Too Can Cook announced a monthly challenge between Southern and Northern part of India, i want to be a part of this group, immediately i joined this group.For this month's first challenge, Shruti of Shruti Rasoi challenged Bhelpuri chaat, a popular street food chaat from Mumbai to us (for the Southern group) while Divya of Divya's Culinary Journey challenged Mysore pak to the Northern group.As am  a part of Southern group, i have to prepare bhelpuri chaat for this month's challenge. Finally here is my bhelpuri chaat i prepared yesterday and enjoyed thoroughly. Thanks to Shruti for this incredible challenge, loved it.


1cup Puffed rice5nos Papdi/Papri1/4cup Fried peanuts1no Potato (boiled & cubed)2tbsp Onions (chopped)3tbsp Cucumber (chopped)3tbsp Tomato (chopped)2tbsp Raw mango (grated)2tbsp Green Chutney2tbsp Sweet Tamarind ChutneyLemon juice (as per need)Salt2tbsp Coriander leaves (chopped)1/2cup Sev/Omapodi
Take a large bowl, crush the fried papdis and take them in a bowl, add now the puffed rice,sev, cubed potatoes, chopped onions,chopped cucumber,chopped tomatoes,grated raw mango, lemon juice,salt and give a stir.
Add immediately the green chutney and sweet tamarinf chutney and toss gently until everything gets well mixed.
Serve immediately wiith chopped coriander leaves and sev.

Prawn Hash/Eral Puttu

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If you are born and brought up with fresh sea foods, you will definitely miss them if you are not living in your home town,really i miss my home town especially for their super fresh seafoods. Nothing will beat those fresh seafoods, you have to compromise with the frozen ones if you live far away from your country as some of us will do.

We have to mix and match these available frozen seafoods here according to our tastebuds , before a month i prepared this tasty puttu aka hash with frozen tiny prawns for our lunch. I prepared this prawn hash quickly to serve along with a simple sambhar for our lunch, needless this delicious puttu tastes excellent with wonderful flavours and everyone at home simply loved it.


3cups Prawns (tiny & frozen)
20nos Shallots or 2 nos Onions (chopped finely)
1inch Ginger (chopped finely)
5nos Garlic (chopped finely)
3nos Green chillies (chopped finely)
1/2tsp Pepper powder
1/2tsp Turmeric powder
1tsp Fennel seed powder
1/2cup Coconut (grated)
1tsp Cumin seed powder
1/2tsp Mustard seeds
1/2tsp Urad dal
2tbsp Coriander leaves (chopped)
Salt
Oil

Cook the prawns with turmeric powder and water until they turns soft, smash the cooked prawn pieces.

Add the pepper powder, cumin seed powder, fennel seed powder, salt to the cooked mashed prawn pieces.

Heat enough oil and let splutters the mustard seeds and urad dal, add the chopped ginger,chopped green chillies and chopped garlic pieces to the seeds and fry until they turns slight brown.

Add immediately the chopped shallots or onions and cook everything until they turns transculent.

Now add the cooked and spiced prawns and toss everything gently, cook everything in simmer until they turns dry and get well fried..

Finally add the chopped coriander leaves and grated coconut to the puttu, cook for few minutes and put off the stove.

Serve as side dish with rice and gravies...

Spicy Herbed Breadsticks~My Guestpost for Sangeetha

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Doing guest post to a co-blogger is quite interesting, recently i got a message from Sangeetha of Recipe Excavator asking whether i can do a guest post for her. Who will say no to this great opportunity, immediately we chitchat through mail and she kindly asked me to make something baked for her with stepwise pictures. She was asking me from a long why am not posting stepwise pictures, as most of you know i have almost more than 2000posts in my space, coz of this space contraint i couldnt post stepwise pictures.

I truly used this opportunity to make a stepwise pictures of my guest post for Sangeetha. Initially i want to make some cake but finally i decided to make this excellent,super delicious spicy herbed breadsticks,they came out prefect. She was quite happy for getting her requested stepwise pictures from me and this breadsticks i prepared for specially for her.



2cups All purpose flour
1cup Whole wheat flour
1tbsp Active dry yeast
1tsp Sugar
1tsp Salt
1/2cup Luke warm milk
2tbsp Olive oil
2tbsp Coriander leaves (chopped)
1tsp Red chillyflakes
1/2tsp Dry Oregano
1/2tsp Dry Thymn leaves
1tbsp Butter (room temperature)

Add the yeast,sugar and salt to the luke warm water and keep aside until the yeast turns foamy.

Take the flours in a bowl with chopped coriander leaves,red chilly flakes,dry oregano and dry thymn leaves,add gradually the foamy yeast,olive oil and water.

Knead as a soft and smooth dough,cover the bowl and keep the dough in a warm place for two hours..

Once they doubled their size,punch down the dough,dust the dough with flour and roll them as a medium size long rope like strips.

Arrange the rolled breadsticks over a baking sheet lined over the baking tray.

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Arrange the baking pan in middle rack of the oven and bake for 25-30minutes until the crust of the bread stick turns golden brown.

Brush immediately the bread sticks with the butter.

Serve warm with a bowl of soup.

Couscous Upma & My Guest Post For Siri

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We start again a week of blogging marathon, for this second week of blogging marathon i choosed upmas as theme, so for the next two days i'll be posting variety upmas. For the frist day of blogging marathon, am posting a quick,easy,healthy and super filling upma with couscous. I simply used onions and usual spices to make this upma,you can very well go for mixed veggies while making this upma.

Coming to this couscous upma, even a bachelor can make this quick upma very much easily and definitely everyone at home will enjoy thoroughly this upma, i served this upma with a dash of chaat masala and we just loved it.Check out the other marathoners running this 21st edition here.


2cups Couscous
1no Onion (big n sliced finely)
2nos Green chillies (slit opened)
1tsp Ginger (minced)
1tsp Mustard seeds+urad dal
1/2tsp Channadal
3nos Dry red chillies
1/4tsp Asafoetida powder
Few Curry leaves
Oil
Salt

Soak couscous for half an hour in 4 cups of water,drain the excess of water and keep aside.

Heat enough oil, let splutters the mustard seeds, urad dal,channadal,dry red chillies,fry until they turns brown.

Add now the sliced onions,grated ginger,curry leaves,salt and slit opened green chillies,saute until the onions turns transculent..

Add now the soaked couscous to the cooking veggies, stir continously until the couscous gets well cooked,put off the stove.

Serve topped with a dash of chaat masala and enjoy.

Do check out my guest post Oats & Badam Halwa Poli at Siri's Food Flavours.

Urad Dal Chutney

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For our dinner, if am serving dosas or idlis i have to prepare atleast two different chutneys else my H will definitely wont enjoy his dinner, so obviously if i get to know a new variety of chutney i wont even hesitate a second to try and serve it to him. For this month's blog hop wednesdays, Radhika paired me with a wonderful blogger Nalini of Nalini's Kitchen. I love Nalini's space and visit her space frequently, if i get a chance to cook from her space do i need to say am a happiest person in the world. Immediately i went through her space to choose a recipe,omg its quite a hard task for me to choose.

Seriously i want to try all her recipes, they were authentic,irresistible and delicious. With her beautiful clicks, she rocks and you will definitely love her space very much.For bloghop wednesdays, i choosed her Urad Dal Chutney one of her mom's recipe and prepared it two days back to serve along with soft idlies. We just loved it,thanks Nalini for sharing this chutney its definitely a keeper and i'll make surely quite often this easy breezy chutney.


1/2cup Grated coconut
5tbso Deskinned urad dal
5nos Dry red chillies
1no Tamarind (blueberry size)
1/4tsp Asafoetida powder
Few curryleaves
Oil
Salt

Heat enough oil, fry the grated coconut,red chillies, tamarind together until a nice aroma comes from, remove it and keep aside.

To the same pan, heat again a teaspoon of oil and fry the urad dal,asafoetida powder and curryleaves until the urad dal gets well roasted.

Once everything gets well cooled, grind everything together with enough water and salt as bit coarse paste.

Transfer it to a bowl and serve immediately.

This chutney doesnt need tempering.

Mushroom & Red Rice Flakes Upma

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Rice flakes aka aval is a must in my pantry, i love to cook with this rice flakes. I have already posted many variety of foods with these rice flakes in my space. When i choosed Upma for this week's blogging marathon,i know that i'll be surely making my favourite aval upma but definitely not the usual one. I grabbed a packet of red rice flakes during my last visit to Indian grocery.I used those healthy red rice flakes for making this wonderful looking upma with some chopped button mushrooms. This upma turned out awesome and we simply enjoyed with some coconut chutney.A wonderful,filling upma to enjoy either for breakfast or for dinner,check out the other marathoners running this 21st edition here.




1cup Red rice flakes/ Sivappu aval
1/4cup Button mushrooms (chopped)
1no Onion (big & chopped)
1/2tsp Mustard seeds
1/2tsp Urad dal
1tsp Channa dal
1/2tsp Turmeric powder
2nos Dry red chillies
2nos Green chillies (chopped)
Few curry leaves
Salt
Oil

Soak the red rice flakes in water for few seconds and drain the water completely,keep aside.

Heat enough oil, let splutters mustard seeds, urad dal,channadal,dry red chillies,curry leaves, add immediately the chopped onions, chopped green chilies and cook until the onions turns transculent..

Now add the chopped mushroom, saute them for few seconds.

Finally add the turmeric powder, salt and add the already washed red rice flakes.

Cook everything in medium flame for few minutes and put off the stove..

Serve warm with some spicy coconut chutney...

Foxtail Millet & Sweet Corn Upma

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Since i heard lot about the nutritious value of foxtail millet, i couldnt stop myself to get them from organic stores. I prepared recently this healthy,nutritious,super filling and satisfying upma with sweet corn kernels and foxtail millet. An excellent food to enjoy without any guilt which gets ready very quickly if you cook your foxtail millet through pressure cooker apart from it, this dish goes for usual spices.

You can enjoy this healthy upma even without any side dish eventhough i loved it with  Urad dal chutney. This foxtail millet and sweet corn upma is my third day post of blogging marathon under the theme 'Upmas' i choosed for this second week of blogging marathon,check out the other marathoners running this 21st edition of blogging marathon here.


1cup Foxtail millet
1/2cup Sweet corn kernels
1no Onion (big & sliced finely)
1tsp Mustard seeds+urad dal
1/2tsp Channadal
3nos Dry red chillies
1/4tsp Asafoetida powder
1/2tsp Pepper powder
Few Curry leaves
Oil
Salt

Wash the foxtail millet and pressure cook with 2cups of water upto 2hisses.

Keep aside and let them cool.

Heat enough oil, let splutters the mustard seeds, urad dal,channadal,dry red chillies,fry until they turns brown.

Add now the sliced onions,curry leaves and salt,saute until the onions turns transculent..

Add now the sweet corn kernels to the cooking onions, stir continously for few minutes, add immediately the cooked millet and pepper powder,cook for few more minutes,put off the stove.

Serve hot with chutney.

The Miracle of Squash Blossoms

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"I blog, therefore I learn. I learn, therefore I blog." That's been my yin-yang mantra here at A Veggie Venture since 2005, a long time ago in blogging years! So hey, let's learn about squash blossoms, shall we? Now I'm not the gardener, I'm not the farmgirl, this is just me, a curious cook, learning a little bit more about the plants emerging from the garden – learn with me and together we'll never take a "simple" zucchini for granted again!
PHOTO COLLAGE [Top] Two zucchini, the "blossom" ends on the left, the "stem ends" on the right. [Left] Squash blossoms hidden amid the plant's leaves. [Right] Two bees collecting nectar from a male zucchini flower, at the same time gathering pollen.

MALES & FEMALES Squash plants flower with boy squash blossoms and girl squash blossoms. Squash plants produce more boys than girls but just like in humans, it's the girls who bear the "babies" - the fruit of the plant, what we cooks call zucchini and other kinds of squash. (Aha! This actually makes the Famous Zucchini Baby even more funny than it already is! That shot is from Iron Stef, a fellow St. Louis food blogger. From now on, for simplicity, I'm going to call that fruit, that baby, "zucchini".)
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Creamy Feta Mousse with Greek Salads ♥

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Some times, a salad isn't as much about the vegetables as what's served on the side, in this case a creamy-tangy "mousse" made with feta cheese. It's almost an excuse to make an extra-special salad, one that's as beautiful as it is appetizing. That said, the creamy feta spread is one of those little "something I cooked up" that's great to have in the fridge. You'll find ways to use it, I promise. And Weight Watchers? While it tastes ever-so-rich, a whole quarter cup is only 3 points.
My friend Cindy loves the feta mousse at the St. Louis restaurant Remy's Kitchen & Wine Bar, but so far, Chef Lisa Slay is loathe to share a recipe with Special Request, my weekly restaurant-recipe request column for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. That's okay, I respect this chef's choice: some recipes, you just want to keep in the family. Well, maybe not bloggers. When we find a recipe we love, we can't wait to share it ...

So somewhere along the way, Cindy found a recipe in Food & Wine that she thought might be close to the feta mousse at Remy's. It called for feta and heavy cream, she found this too rich. I made it with feta and buttermilk and well, honestly, fell in L-O-V-E.

If you love feta, you'll love this "mousse" – though honestly, I'm not sure that mousse is the right name, for this isn't marshmallow-light. It's got that wonderful feta tang, made smooth, made spreadable, made try-not-to-gobble-it-by-the-spoonful.
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Summer's Best Corn Chowder ♥ Recipe

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A simple corn chowder recipe, packed with our favorite fresh summer vegetables like onion, carrot, red pepper, potato and sweet potato and of course, the soup's real star, kernels of sweet corn. As bright and colorful as crates of fresh vegetables lined up at the farmstand. Perfect for CSA members because the corn chowder recipe uses so many fresh vegetables, all at once.
In winter, big pots of simmering soup are a given, hearty bowls to warm us from the inside out. But what about summer soup, do you make summer soup? Summer soups are just different, aren't they? Lighter and livelier, more likely to be all about the fresh vegetables that are so alluring during these heady summer months.

For me, summer just isn't summer without at least two must-make summer soup recipes, Tomato Gazpacho, the chilled tomato summer soup that turned me into a seasonal eater, and this corn chowder recipe, bits of summer vegetables and sweet kernels of corn in a milky broth. It's takes a little chopping, we do love to cut vegetables, don't we? :-)

I like this corn chowder served warm, not hot, the better to really taste the individual vegetables, bite by bite. It's similar to Finnish Summer Soup, one of my very oldest recipes. Add shrimp and scallops and bits of fresh tomato for Summer Seafood Chowder, another summer chowder.

All fans of summer soup will definitely want to check out my collection of Favorite Summer Soup Recipes, some chilled, some warm, all filled with summer vegetables (and fruit too!) and summer color.
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Roasted Whole Red Onions Recipe ♥ with Sweet Potatoes & Rosemary

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<< Today's colorful vegetable recipe: A double punch of vegetable color from small whole red onions and the cubes of sweet potatoes, roasted together in a sherry-sweetened broth with pungent rosemary. Not just vegan, "Vegan Done Real". >>
Wow. Talk about a flavor pop, both the onions and the sweet potatoes, roasted in a hot oven. Plus I love cooking two vegetables at the same time, fewer moving parts getting dinner on the table.

The trick is to find small red onions, I don't see them often, these came from the garden of our Minnesota friends the Rassmussens. But once you have small red onions, they're so pretty, it seems a shame to just cut them up. So this was a really special way to use small red onions, showing off their shape and color, really making the onions themselves stand out. If you had enough, you could do a dish with all red onions too, no sweet potatoes. Either one would add color to a buffet table, say. Plus people really like cooked onions!

FYI the photograph was taken before the dish went into the oven but the colors stayed really true out of the oven too.
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Baked Oatmeal with Pumpkin & Pears ♥ Recipe

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<< Today's healthy breakfast recipe: Oatmeal baked with pumpkin plus fall fruit, pumpkin-pie spices and nuts. There's just enough pumpkin for color and moisture without making the oatmeal dense and heavy. >>
Come October 1, American-based food blogs take on a fevered orange tinge – pumpkin orange, that is – as we go cra-zee for pumpkin recipes. I have my own collection, My Favorite Pumpkin Recipes but am always happy to add another! "Never look a gift pumpkin in the face," I say, especially when it's a healthy pumpkin recipe. :-)

The last few weeks, I've been made one pan of Easy Baked Oatmeal after another, twice with blueberries and bananas, twice with apples and pears (and the all-important bananas), then twice more with pumpkin and pears (and more bananas). It took some tweaking to get the right amount of pumpkin and pumpkin-pie-type spices and the baking time right, but the last batch was just excellent.
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Crazypotato98’s Herbed Red Potato and Green Beans, Microwaved

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Use thewonderful Calorie Count Conversion Tool to translate those tasty grams into ounces. It’seasy! The nutrition facts were also designed at Calorie Count - the smart placeto log your calories.

Herbed Red Potato and Green Beans, Microwaved
Ingredients:
312 g redpotatoes250 g greenbeans, frozen1 tbsp butter1 cup water1 cubechicken bouillon1 tsp basil1 tsp garlicsalt1/4 tsp onionpowder



Directions:
Butter themicrowaveable dish with the 1 tbsp butter.
Quarterpotatoes and toss them in the dish until coated with butter.
Add greenbeans.
Microwavefive minutes.
Add water andbouillon and the rest of the ingredients.
Stir andmicrowave for an additional 20 minutes or until potatoes are soft.
Serve hot.

Broccoli with Parmesan

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Simple and fresh is the way to go with side dishes. Buy the most beautiful head of broccoli you can find - nice tight  buds and no yellowing sections. Don't pitch that delicious stem. It's wonderful and tender if you simply take a minute to peel off the outer darker layer. Enjoy. The nutrition facts below were designed at Calorie Count - a fantastic place to log calories!

Broccoli with Parmesan
nutrition facts

Ingredients:

1 large head broccoli
pepper to taste (salt if you must)
1/4 t oregano
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 T extra virgin olive oil
3 T Parmesan cheese, grated
1 lemon, wedged

Directions:

Wash broccoli, peel the stems and trim off the tough ends. Cut into bite sized pieces.

Place the broccoli in a steamer basket and position inside a pot with a little water - an inch or two. Not so much that the broccoli stands in the water. That is where vitamins will leach out. Steaming is the healthiest way to cook broccoli.

Bring the water to a simmer, cover, and steam until the broccoli is easily pierced with a fork. Some of you like your broccoli crisp tender. If you like that start testing after five minutes. Broccoli is at this point when it turns a vibrant bright green. If you like your broccoli very tender, start testing after seven minutes. Do not cook to the point where the whole thing turns to mush and turns a not too attractive grey so I do not recommend going beyond 10 minutes.

Remove the strainer from the pot and remove the broccoli to a serving platter or bowl. Sprinkle with the seasonings, drizzle with olive oil, top with cheese, and serve with lemon wedges.

Stewartp's Helpful Hint for Mashed Potatoes

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This simple hint from Stewartp will ramp up the nutrition facts for your mashed potatoes - and give you creamier potatoes with a bit of lovely fall color.

Helpful Hint for Mashed Potatoes

When  cooking mashed potatoes, add a bit of butternut squash or sweet potato to the pot at the same time you add the potatoes.

Mash it all together!

Some of the best hints are so very simple. If you have a helpful hint to share, send an email to ccpalate@gmail.com.

Michael's Savory Crab Meat Egg Scramble

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This morning, Michael got up and did not just automatically reach for that box of cereal. Instead he put on his creative Chefing hat and got to work! The nutrition facts were made at Calorie Count. Enjoy.

Savory Crab Meat Egg Scramble

Ingredients:

3 or 4 eggs, beaten for scrambling (or equiv egg substitute)
1/2 cup surimi (faux crabmeat) chopped
1 Tbsp. fat free half-and-half
1 Tbsp. Dijonaisse mustard
1 thick slice onion, minced
1 tsp. dried parsley flakes
1 tsp. canola oil
1 spray round the pan with butter-flavored cooking spray
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
In a mixing bowl, combine the egg, salt and pepper and half-and-half and blend well.

Add butter spray and oil to a nonstick fry pan.  Add minced onions to the pan and cook over medium heat until the onions become translucent.  

Add the beaten egg mixture.  As the eggs begin to cook, sprinkle them with the parsley flakes.  

Just as the eggs begin to firm up in the pan, stir in the Dijonaisse mustard, then add the chopped faux crabmeat and stir it in as the eggs finish cooking.

Serve with a side of sliced ripe strawberries or a fresh cut melon slice. 

 Makes two generous servings.

Meganr's Black Bean Chili with Tempeh and Dark Ale

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Meganr created this using a 2009 Vegetarian Times recipe as astarter. The nutrition facts for this outstanding chili were made at Calorie Count!
Black Bean Chili withDark Ale
Ingredients:(Makes 4 servings)
2 tbsp olive oil2 chipotle chilis in adobo sauce2 tbsp cumin1 1/2 cups onion, chopped fine1 medium red bell pepper, diced5 cloves garlic, minced3 cups black beans, cooked or from can1 1/2 pints dark ale1 1/2 cups tomatoes, chopped1 cup corn4 ounces tempeh, diced
Directions:
Heat oil in 3-qt pot over medium heat.
Add chipotles and cumin. Cook 1 minutes, or until fragrant.
Stir in onion, bell pepper, and garlic and sauté 5 to 7minutes, or until vegetables are soft.
Stir in beans, beer, tomatoes and corn and bring to a boil.Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered 45 minutes or until thick.
Serve

Am I the Only One & 10 Quirky Questions

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This meme has been floating around the blog world.  I saw it over at Lisa's Yarns ...
Am I the only one ...

- who doesn't have a smart phone?

- who refuses to call Wednesday "hump day"?

- who has never had a glass of egg nog?

- who still buys CDs regularly?

- who hasn't and won't read 50 Shades of Grey?

- who thinks cilantro is the greatest plant to have ever grown?

- who prefers to drink water that is room temperature (over ice water)? 

- who thinks Tim Horton's coffee tastes like poison?

Lisa also posted 10 Quirky Questions on her blog.  Here are my answers: 
Do you take the shampoo and conditioner bottles from hotels?
Occasionally.  I don't use them, but I drop them off at Carmichael Outreach, a great local, non-profit organization where one of my best buds works.

What is your biggest pet peeve?
Long (boring) story tellers who have no social awareness and can't take social cues.


Do you chew your pens and pencils?
Nope.


Do you believe in ghosts?
Nope.

What was your first concert?
Bush and Veruca Salt.


Have you ever cried because you were so happy?
Yes, once or twice.

Do you crave sweet or salty foods?
Salty.  

How late is "sleeping in" to you?
Typically around 10:00, but it has been later lately.


DJ or band at a wedding? 
Either, as long as the music is good.  Music and food are the two most important aspects of a wedding reception.

Answer any or all of the questions in the comments if you so wish!!  Finish the sentence "Am I the only one ..."

Lamb Curry and Spiced Basmati Rice

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The leftover lamb from Saturday was delicious in a lovely curry this evening.  

Lamb Curry  (rough measurements)
I am not 100% sure about the measurements, because we just randomly threw things together, but it contained:
1-2 T canola oil
1/2 large white onion, chopped
1 clove of garlic, minced
4-5 mushrooms, sliced
1 lb leftover lamb leg (cooked)
1 cup or so canned diced tomatoes (with liquid)
1 cup hot water
1 T parsley
1 carrot, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
2 T corn starch
about 3 T curry powder
1/4 cup cold water
garam masala, tumeric, cumin, more curry (to taste)
Salt and Pepper

Heat the oil and let the onions and garlic cook for a few minutes.  Add the lamb, mushrooms, tomatoes, hot water and parsley and let simmer on low for about an hour.  Add the carrots, celery and bell pepper partway through the hour.  After the hour of simmering, make a paste out of the corn starch, curry powder and cold water.  Add this and then season with other spices to taste.  Serve with rice.


Spiced Basmati Rice
1 cup Basmati rice
1.5 cups water
1 tsp garam masala
pinch of salt
pinch or two curry powder

Throw all ingredients into a pot.  Bring to a boil.  Switch to another burner that is on low and cover for 15 minutes.


Dinner was hours ago, yet the house still smells spectacular.  I'm very happy there is some leftover for tomorrow's lunch.
Do you ever turn leftovers into a whole different creation?What do you do with leftover meats?