...With Jam and Bread

Clara's spring swimming classes have begun and will be right at dinner time. So, for the next few months we will be having sandwiches for dinner on Wednesdays.

This morning we made a nice sandwich loaf and some strawberry jam.

I usually make a slow rise bread from this book, but I forgot to put it together last night. In a pinch, I tried Ina Garten's Honey White Bread. The 2 egg yolks give the bread a pretty light yellow colour and a great texture and taste.

My mum came to visit us today bringing a few pints of strawberries.

The two of us got a batch of strawberry jam made really quickly. Thanks mum!

A jar of the jam is going to be donated to a certain jam hiding sparrow I know of.

Jib says, "I could eat the whole loaf."

Sufferin' Succotash

There will be no suffering with this succotash.

For Christmas I received a beautiful green depression glass casserole dish and a box set of Moosewood farmer market recipes both of which I have used very faithfully since. I love to make the succotash from those recipes and serve it in my green dish.

A reasonably quick vegetable dish, this is a sweet combo of roasted butternut squash mixed with some buttery sauteed lima beans and corn. I have taken this to our monthly fellowship lunch at church but make it a lot at home to accompany BBQ sausage and a coleslaw.

My hilarious nephew, Jack, gorged himself on this last week. Jibs has good things to say about it too.

Jack and Jibs say, "Trust us, this succotash is mighty fine."

Fancy Succotash

(moosewood farmer's market collection)

5-6C peeled and cubed (bite size) butternut squash

2 C coarsely chopped red onion

2 Tbsp minced garlic

1 tsp salt

3 Tbsp olive or veg oil

2 Tbsp fresh sage (1.5 tsp dried)

2 tsp dried thyme (2 Tbsp fresh)

1 1/2 C fresh or frozen corn

1 1/2 C frozen or canned (drained/rinsed) lima beans

1/4 C minced fresh parsley

Heat oven to 450*.

Mix together squash, onion, garlic, salt and 2 Tbsp oil on a large cookie sheet lined with parchment.

Bake 40mins stirring frequently until softened but crisp around the edges.

Meanwhile, heat the last 1 Tbsp of oil (or 2tsp oil, 2 tsp butter) in a large skillet.

Add sage and thyme and simmer a few seconds. Stir in corn and lima beans. Cook on low about 5 mins. Cover and set aside.

In a large dish toss together cooked squash mixture with the lima bean/corn mixture. Stir in parsley.

Sugar Free (Not Taste Free) Apple Spice Muffins

Jibs says, "It's pretty hard to wait for these to cook, I want one now."

Having muffins or loaf around really helps in the mornings, Jim loves being able to grab something quick to eat in the car on the way to work if he doesn't have time for a large breakfast. They also travel well as a snack if we have to run out to the store. So it's nice to have a few good, healthy recipes on hand to whip up.

I don't like to give my people sugar first thing in the morning, so I worked on making this recipe tasty but also reasonably healthy and sugar-free. The sweetness comes from apple sauce and honey with some nice bits of fresh apple. These come out moist and full of flavour.

I use all whole wheat flour and I would encourage you to do the same because it adds a really nice texture and taste, but white flour would be fine too. Feel free to add a handful if walnuts or raisins to the batter at the end if you like. My peeps like plain apple spice so that's how I do them.

Apple Spice Muffins

1 C apple sauce

1/2 C honey

1/2 C butter, soft

1 3/4 C whole wheat flour

1 tsp soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp cloves and ginger

1 C apple, chopped

(1/2 C nuts and 1/2 C raisins or craisins, optional)

Preheat oven to 350*.

Cream together butter and honey. Add applesauce and mix well.

Combine all dry ingredients. Add the applesauce mixture to dry.

Blend just until combined. Fold in apple and extras.

Scoop into 12 lined muffin tins or 1 loaf pan.

Bake 25-30mins. (for muffins)

or 40-60mins (for loaf)

Baby Likes Green

Me being creepy with the VMix

Jibs Says, Green is Good!

Vita mix Love

Jibs is having a hard time waiting for his juice.

Im not sure how I got along without my Vita-Mix. About five years ago, my parents bought us the Vita-Mix for our anniversary present. Since then, we have made probably hundreds of different smoothies and juices in it. Somehow the favourites have usually been green. If you dont drink green juice, it may seem gross to you but it really is good. If the green comes from either spinach or kale, it really doesn't add any flavour to the juice. It does, however, add calcium, Vitamins A and C, potassium and iron.

I generally like pear in any juice because it adds sweetness. I also get bananas that are very ripe, cut them into chunks and throw them in a ziplock freezer bag. It's easy to take out a couple handfuls of them for your juices.

Here is what we do:

Baby Loves Green Juice

1C spinach

1C kale

1 banana (frozen and cut in chunks)

1 pear

1C yogurt (plain or vanilla)

1C water, Orange juice or milk

1T honey or maple syrup

Blend all ingredients in a Vita mix or powerful blender.

Moosewood Pasta Primavera

Another winner from the Moosewood collection. This pasta primavera is loaded with vegetables and in a very tasty, tomato-wine (ricotta) sauce. If you have Moosewood's Lowfat Favourites, turn page 206, get out a pen and make some changes to the original recipe. My humble recommendation is that you add a few things to the recipe as shown in the cookbook. I love adapting recipes and this one needed just a few tweaks to make it perfect.

To make the sauce a little creamier, I added a tub of ricotta cheese with some salt, parsley, butter and parmesan cheese stirred in, to the pasta just before adding the tomato sauce. The cheeses and butter will melt into the pasta so nicely.

I love vegetables and the brief steaming keeps them tasting fresh and sweet. A lot of vegetables would work in this dish, so feel free to add what you like or subtract any that you don't.

Pasta Primavera

6 cloves garlic, minced

2tsp Olive oil

3Cups Chopped tomatoes

1/4C White Wine (Sauvignon Blanc)

1t salt

1/2C chopped basil

1 small red onion, sliced thinly

2 carrots, 2inch matchsticks

1 bunch asparagus, 2 inch pieces

2 heads broccoli, bite-size

1 bell pepper, 2 inch matchsticks

1 zucchini, 2 inch matchsticks

1/2C green peas

salt, pepper

1 tub ricotta

3Tbsp butter, diced

1/2C grated parmesan

1/3C chopped parsley

1 lb pasta- any shape works

extra parmesan for topping

Warm olive oil in a large deep skillet, add garlic and cook over med heat 2 mins.

Add tomatoes, wine, salt and stir 5-10mins. Add basil and red onions and remove from heat.

Bring a large pot of water to boil with a steamer basket inside. Starting with the carrots for 1 minute, add peppers, asparagus, and broccoli to basket and cook another 3 mins. Add zucchini and cook 1 min. Add veg to tomato sauce, season if necessary and keep off heat.

Cook Pasta.

While pasta is cooking mix ricotta, butter, salt and parsley to taste and parmesan in a serving bowl. Add cooked pasta, stir well. Add tomato-veg mixture and stir well.

Top with lots of fresh pepper and grated parmesan cheese.

Jibs says "Dont forget a healthy sprinkle of freshly grated Parmesan on top!"