Dinner Party!

So my sister and her family are coming over for dinner tonight and she has directed me not to cook any of that 'healthy crap'....pfffft...I do not take direction well so I am making a whole food extravaganza and she'll never even know! Hahahahahaha!
Well, until I tell her!

I am making my world famous (well, family famous) pot roast with veg and gravy (that is so yummy I believe my brother in law would eat it with a spoon!) as whole-food as possible (until I figure out otherwise that is!) and the meat is crap-free, the veg is alllll organic, the mushroom soup is home made, I could not come up with a suitable replacement for powered onion soup mix, so that stayed in...put it in my new roasting pan (woke up this morning and discovered that I did not have one, so made a quick run to the store!) et voila! I am even making ceasar salad with organic lettuce, homemade croutons (I use bagels, olive oil, garlic & salt and toast them in the oven) and real bacon (that sadly isn't crap free - BUT I am happy to have seen an organic butcher not to far from my place and he's gonna get a visit from me very soon). Top that all off with a loaf of whole grain bread (not organic) and some yummy lemon soda (fresh squeeze lemon juice, cane sugar, sparkling water) and we're done! For appetizers I am just putting out some salsa (fresh) and some organic corn tortilla chips, and some olives (because I freaking LOVE olives!) and we're done! :)

For dessert, I have no idea what my sister is bringing (don't care as long as I get to play with my niece) but I bought a huge pomelo which is like a GIANT grapefruit - it's from Asia and they have all kinds of neat produce there! The taste is very mild, and not very juicy- it's hard to describe...but it is refreshing and yummy!




Look at the pithe on that baby! I bet someone somewhere candies that rind and it's deeeelish!

Fall cooking!

Ok, so, I haven't had "Fall" in about 5 years and I missed it terribly! There's tons of stuff to catch up on for me (like just a walk in the park to shuffle through beautiful red leaves!)

In between all of this, I have to maintain my sustenance, and I thought, what is more "Fall" than PUMPKINS? (Okay, maybe APPLES! But I've already had my apple fix for the year!)



Yummy "Pie" Pumpkins for eating!


Scoop 'em out just like any other squash and prep them for baking! (No more canned pumpkin for us!) - Why not make extra and freeze it for when you need more? Any recipe that calls for a 15 oz can of pumpkin can be substituted with approximately 1.875 cups (so, about 2 cups minus 1 tablespoon).


Pop 'em in the oven at 400 degrees for approximately 40-60 minutes (until they brown slightly and get really soft)


Scoop 'em out, pop 'em in a blender and smoosh 'em up, then drain through a sieve overnight...et voila, you have pumpkin (sans BPA) that you can use in ANYTHING - I also saved the drained juice and froze it because I am going to plop that in my next soup creation...

I'm hearing of a trend recently where people are adding pumpkin to pasta sauce, and I think it would be a FABULOUS addition (next time I have pasta, I am trying that!) But I prefer things of a sweeter variety!


SPICED PUMPKIN MUFFINS WITH MAPLE CREAM TOPPING (in lieu of cream chese icing) I took these puppies into work, and I have to say, I am quite a popular young lady! :) I have very good reviews on this recipe that I converted to whole foods (I even use 100% whole wheat flour and it still turns out light and fluffy and YUMMY!)

I know I also have been posting a bunch of 'new' recipes for everyone, but how about converting a classic favorite to a whole foods version?
How about a nice SHEPPARD'S PIE?


Easy and YUMMY (and everybody loves a good SHEPPARD'S PIE with tons of ORGANIC KETCHUP! MMMMMMMMM!)

Everyone has their own recipe for this time-tested favorite, but here's how you convert it to whole foods (EASY!) 1) makes sure your potatoes, onions, garlic, corn, and any other veg you plop in there are FRESH (or frozen) - brownie points if they're all organic and locally sourced! (Mmmmmm brownies!) 2)This is important - use ground meat that is 'crap-free' (or as my grocer calls it:Free Form) No antibiotics, no growth hormones, fed what the animal is supposed to be fed (i.e. vegetarian meals for cows! hellllloooooo!) more brownie points if the meat is locally sourced! Cook as normal, et voila! Whole foods Sheppard's pie! Easy Peasy!

APPLES!!!!!

OMG Do I ever have an abundance of APPLES! Anyone have any good recipes for apple stuff? I need to use these up!

(p.s. amazing time to go apple picking right now!)
I was lucky enough to sneak in an apple picking session in Hemmingford Quebec las weekend! It was so fun grabbing fruit from the tree! And there were SO MANY varieties, alot of which I have never even heard of before! This week has been chock full of apple taste testing! And not a single variety tastes the same, so I am not getting sick of eating apples everyday! :)



And this week, I will also be making my yummy Pumpkin Spice cake with fresh pumpkin (and whole wheat flour - I only mention this because this is the only recipe that I have that converted really well to whole foods! I'll post it after I make some for the peeps at the office so you can enjoy it too!!!! YAHOOOOO!)