Lima Beans, recipe from Spirit

If you are on my Instagram, you will have seen a few pics of food where I mention them coming from "my spirit". Meals that I put together by just listening to my gut, letting my body tell me what it wants to eat instead of following a recipe.

:)

My kids are both at camp, my husband works during the day, so I had free food range! No one to tell me "Ew, that looks gross!", or "Geesh, do we always have to eat healthy?", or "Does that have spirulina in it????".

Here is my combo du jour, made in the crock pot on the porch, since it is 104 outside, and my AC is pumping.


1lb lima beans, soaked overnight and drained
2 garlic cloves, I threw them in whole
1 can coconut milk, and a 1/2 can water that you swizzle to get the rest of the milk
Jalapenos. However many jalapenos you think you need to spice it up, chopped
Brown sugar, a good handful!
Coarse sea salt
Butter, about 5 large chunks :)......



Mix it all up, set the crock to high, 6-7 hours later you will have creamy, slight zippy and sweet at the same time, lima beans.

Serve over rice, sprinkled with parsley and ground pepper.

Yum.

If you ask me to bring dessert, it will be Rice Pudding.

If you ask me to bring dessert, it will be Rice Pudding, and you better not be dieting.

Rice Pudding is the combination of everything I love: BUTTER, WHOLE FAT, CREAMY MILK...EGGS...SUGAH!....VANILLA...and rice. I am not a fan of rice, but since rice pudding would be nill without it, I take it into my heart.

So, just make at least 3 extra cups of rice the next time you make dinner.

Here is the original recipe I used on allrecipes.com that serves 4. Below is my version, and it really only serves 4 of us, maybe 6 if you don't like big helpings :). The base recipe is really easy to double, and that is what I do when I take this to parties.

Ingredients

• 3  cups cooked white rice
• 3.5  cups milk, divided (keep out a 1.2 cup)
• 1/3 cup-ish white sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• 2 eggs, beaten
• 2/3 cup golden raisins
• 2 +  tablespoons butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Fresh nutmeg

In a clean saucepan, combine 3 cups cooked rice, 3 cups milk, sugar and salt. Cook over medium heat until thick and creamy, 15 to 20 minutes. Stir in remaining 1/2 cup milk, beaten egg, and raisins; cook 2 minutes more, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in butter and vanilla.

If you can stand it, chill :). Sprinkle with cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice once cool.

Voila! Heaven in a pot!  

Pumpkin & dark chocolate

I am not a chocolate fan.

Yes, I know that is weird, and whenever I say: "I don't like chocolate." I get very strange looks.

:)

A few days ago, I asked on Facebook for people's favorite pumpkin recipe.  This morning I woke up, and my first thought was "Pumpkin chocolate chip cookies"! Yes, it is a strange world (and I wonder what I was doing n my dream??).

So, as you can see, every blue moon I will get a craving that must be satisfied. And it has to be dark chocolate.

Thankfully, my house is always stocked with important essentials such as pumpkin & chocolate chips :). 

Here you go (original recipe from Food Network) :Yes, my cookies are always BIG :).

Ingredients

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1/2  cup white sugar
12  cup light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
3 cups  spelt flour (all-purpose flour is fine!)
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 heaping tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 cups (12-ounce bag) dark chocolate chips ( I use less than the recipe because they are dark, and I don't like them oozing all over the cookie)
Nonstick cooking spray or parchment paper

Directions

Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray cookie sheets with nonstick spray or line them with parchment paper.

Using a mixer, beat the butter until smooth. Beat in the white and brown sugars, a little at a time, until the mixture is light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs 1 at a time, then mix in the vanilla and pumpkin puree. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, spices. Slowly beat the flour mixture into the batter in thirds. Stir in the chips. Scoop the cookie dough by heaping tablespoons onto the prepared cookie sheets and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the cookies are browned around the edges. Remove the cookie sheets from the oven and let them rest for 2 minutes. Take the cookies off with a spatula and cool them on wire racks.

Pair this with a fantastic "healthy" version of a Pumpkin Latte (recipe can be found here). BTW, I am a simple girl and just heated the milk, added the pumpkin & spice and very strong coffee. No blending, because I hate doing dishes :)....Voila!

Rhubarb: A serenade & a muffin

Rhubarb cake & rhubarb compott, both bring instant happy childhood memories :).

Rhubarb is a pretty hardy plant that is easy to grow, and often grows in masses. You would not know it here in California, where Rhubarb is priced as if a truffle pig had to scout it out. Last year, I decided to plant my own in my front yard, where I am slowly removing the weeds lawn to make way for food. I do not water things I cannot eat. Even though rhubarb thrives in cooler climates, I decided that "I" am going to be a pioneer woman and grow rhubarb anyways....even if my summer average is a smoldering 100+ degrees. My plant actually grew, but my neighbor, whose over-sprinkling seemed like a blessing at first (I generally forget to water),  sprinkled too much and the plant literally drowned.  So in January I planted two new plants and a wall to safe guard them from the killer sprinkler, and by the end of January I saw the little heads of my old plants come back! EUREKA!!!

Rhubarb should not be harvested until the second year, so I am now harvesting my old plants :). I

have green rhubarb, just so you don't get think I am confused when you see the pictures! Today I got a big batch that looked like it wanted to get out of the heat.  You can store fresh rhubarb in a bucket with some water, just place it with the "root" side down in the water. I would not keep it this way for longer than a day. If you need longer, cut and put in the fridge in airtight containers (a few days), or freeze.

Since we are road tripping tomorrow, I made muffins. While looking for recipes, I found the coolest site, all about rhubarb and fittingly named Rhubarbinfo.com! I used their Rhubarb-Buttermilk recipe, but adapted it to fit my food:

WARNING: If you do not eat sugar, or butter, my recipes will offend you. I eat both. They make me happy.

Ingredients:

1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup salad oil coconut oil (I don't even know what that is.)

1 egg
2 tsp vanilla extract (I used home made Bourbon Vanilla! Yum! Just soak 

pods in bourbon or rum!)
1 cup buttermilk kefir (I make kefir, always use it in lieu of buttermilk)
1 1/2 cups finely diced rhubarb
1/2 cups pecan pieces almond slivers. I did not put them in the mix, 

sprinkled them on top for crunch.
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour white spelt flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Topping: I completely omitted this. First, I only use butter. Second, I rather put the butter on my 

mmuffin :)

1/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp melted margarine

Procedure:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease 24 18 medium-sized muffin cups.
• Combine in large bowl: brown sugar, oil, egg, and vanilla. Beat until well mixed. Stir into mixture buttermilk, rhubarb, and pecans.
• In another bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add this mixture all at once to rhubarb mixture and stir until all ingredients are moistened. Do not over mix.
• Fill prepared muffin pan 3/4 full with batter.
• Quickly combine topping ingredients and sprinkle on top of batter in each muffin cup.
• Bake in preheated oven on center shelf 15 to 20 minutes.

YUM!!!

I also chopped up some rhubarb for compott. Easiest thing in the world, and tastes great on joghurt, pancakes, oatmeal, etc.

Chop rhubarb in 1/2 inch pieces. Put in pot, cover the bottom with a bit of water. Add some brown
sugar (to taste!), a cinnamon stick, and some cloves. Simmer until the rhubard is soft. Do not overcook, or you will have jam! You can add strawberries to this, they work nice together!
Put it in a mason jar, and store in the fridge for easy access!

Rhubarb freezes well too! Just chop in small pieces, and freeze. I like to write how many cups are in the bag on the bag. This way I can use it to make rhubarb jam (delicious, and a family favorite) in
the winter. Or I will just heat it up for compott or pie filling. 

So here is my muffin, my wine, my computer :). The perfect late night study snack. Happy Solstice to you!

Much love, Heike

Get out the butter & brown sugah', we are cooking SOUL food!

This has to be one of my favorite recipes. There are many versions, but here is the basic. Look at my picture closely, see those huge chunks of butter? In three hours, they will make my taste buds sing!

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.....

Ingredients:

• 1 pound dry lima beans
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 tablespoon molasses
• 1/2 cup butter
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon dry mustard
• 1/2 cup sour cream

Cover beans with water; soak overnight. Drain beans and refill pot with water to cover beans, bring to boil, reduce heat, and simmer gently until tender. Drain. In slow cooker, mix beans and butter. Mix together sugar, salt, and mustard. Sprinkle on beans. Stir molasses and sour cream together, pour over beans and mix to combine. Cover and cook on LOW for 3 to 5 hours.

Nasturtium Love

Love, love, love Nasturtiums....Kapuzinerkresse :).

Their beautiful bright flowers and green hued leaves are not only a treasure for the eyes, they are YUMMY. I planted a ton of different varieties, and now they are becoming aboundant. Once in bloom, the blossoms wilt fairly quickly.

So what's a witchy girl to do? Eat them!

I have been putting the blossoms in our salads or as a pretty garnish forever, but now I am going to try some of the recipes from my books, or you can google "Nasturtium Recipes".

Nasturtium Butter
12-14 blossoms
2-4 leaves
1 stick of butter, softened
1 clove of garlic (optional)
Lavender (optional)

Pick petals, wash, and check for critters. Dry. Chop petals and leaves. Mash garlic, if you use it. I have very strong chives in my yard, so I use those instead. Chop flowers into butter (think Cold Stone Creamery). I put in a little lavender, since I have it, and I love it :).

Put in jar (I used a 1 pint jar), sprinkle with lavender, put in fridge. 1 stick of butter fits nicely in a jar if you don't pack it down. I like it "fluffy", so the flowers don't get smashed. If you pack it in, you can probably do 1.5 sticks, just add more flowers accordingly.

Enjoy!