Comfort Food...

In our household, our favorite comfort food is pasta.  Not just any pasta, but Pozza's Pasta.

Growing up in Springdale, Arkansas, near the Italian community of Tontitown, I learned at an early age that the only good pasta is homemade, thin, egg noodle pasta.  I'm not even sure that I ever tasted that semolina "crap" until I was grown and moved away to some place that didn't have Pozza's Pasta.  I love this stuff so much, that when we lived in Massachusetts, I ordered a case at a time shipped to my home!

Of course, you can cook your noodles and serve them up covered in a delicious marinara sauce, but on an evening when you're tired, and just want some comfort food, this is how I serve it up.

Boil your noodles until they are soft, but not mushy.  Drain the water, but keep the noodles in your hot boiling pan, but not on the stove top.  Add a good dollop of the butter of your choice (we like Earth Balance), then add a good bit of grated Parmesan cheese and stir until the butter is all melted.  Sprinkle with some garlic salt, stir.  Then divide it up onto plates, and sprinkle dried parsley on top (mostly for decoration!).  Yum, yum  -  comfort food!

Do you listen to audiobooks?

Recently CBS aired an item about the "new" popularity of audiobooks in the literary industry.  Here is an older episode they aired:   Audiobooks Give New Life to Literature.   The one thing they failed to mention was the ability to borrow and download audiobooks FREE of charge from public libraries.

Personally, I have been listening to audiobooks for at least 13 years, maybe longer.  When I first started listening to audiobooks, it was by cassette tape.  Remember those? Almost always I would borrow them from my local library.  Once in a while I would purchase audiobooks, but they were generally more expensive than the hardcopy book.  Then along came audio CD's and MP3's, and my favorite of all time - downloadable audiobooks - a FREE service from my local library.

If you want to try downloadable audiobooks, just go to the website of your local library, for instance, Bentonville Library.  Then click on the tab Downloadables, then choose Library2Go, 

and begin your search for reading material.  You will need a current library card number and PIN # to log in and download your book.  If you don't have a card, your library's website will guide you how to get one.

Several people have told me that they "just can't listen to audiobooks because they put me to sleep".  This can be a problem that, in my opinion, is directly related to the voice of the narrator.  A good narrator can lead me to listen to a book that ordinarily I might not have read in print.  A good example is Charlaine Harris's  Sookie Stackhouse series.  I may never have chosen to read this series if I had started with the print version.  The audiobook, however, read by the very entertaining Johanna Parker hooked me immediately with her quirky, southern drawl.

In my search for entertaining audiobook narrators, I have come across several websites that allow you to listen to snippets of each narrators' reading style.  The following sites are a good resource for this purpose:  AudioFile Magazine,  Tantor Audio Audiobooks, and Audiobooks by Reader.  The Library2Go website also allows you to listen to a sample of your selection before downloading.

There are many ways to listen to audiobooks.  My favorite device is my iPhone.   (It is ridiculously easy to download audiobooks from the library to your iPhone.)  My husband bought me a wireless Bluetooth  device that works great for listening since there are no pesky wires, and I can easily answer any incoming phone calls with the push of button, pausing my audiobook.  So -  I can clean house, work in the yard, or cook while listening to a book!  Multi-tasking!!   I also listen this way while driving - which is much safer than earplugs, as I have one ear open to traffic, and it's totally hands free.  

Have I convinced you to try audiobooks?????

New Yoga Class For Active Adults Starting

Breaking News!   Beginning September 10, I will begin teaching a new class: Yoga For Active Adults, from 4 to 5 pm each Tuesday and Thursday at Bella Vista Village's Metfield Clubhouse, 3 Euston Road.

The class will offer a flowing style of Hatha Yoga that helps create core strength and increase flexibility and balance.  Poses flow one into the other linked with the breath. Suitable for students of all levels and experience.

Students should bring a yoga mat.  Other optional accessories are a yoga strap, yoga block, and a blanket or cushion.

The cost is $3 per class or $25 for 10 classes when a punch card is purchased. Class participants, without a photo identification card issued by the Property Owners Association, will be required to pay the Metfield facility fee of $2.25 per class.
For more information, or to register, call 855-8165.

Homemade Ice "Cream"

Growing up, we had a tradition that on each of our birthdays, we would have cake (usually Betty Crocker) and homemade ice cream.  Our ice cream recipe made the MOST DELICIOUS ice cream.   In actuality it was closer to ice milk than ice cream, as it had no eggs in it.  

Since adopting a vegan/vegetarian eating plan, I have adapted my Mom's recipe to be vegan.  It tastes pretty darn good, especially with chocolate syrup and chopped peanuts on top.  (Fred would disagree on this count!)  

Here's my recipe for 

Cuisinart Dairy-Free Ice Cream:

3 cups non-dairy drink (soy, almond, rice, or hemp milk)

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 cup organic evaporated cane sugar

Today I used 1 1/2 cups West Soy Organic Unsweetened Soy Milk and 1 1/2 cups Rice Dream Rice Milk.

Mix all ingredients, stirring until sugar is dissolved. It you're not ready to freeze this, store in the refrigerator until you're ready to turn on the Cuisinart.

  

After about 30 minutes or so, the mixture should be frozen. Transfer your ice cream to a freezer-safe container and place in the freezer immediately if you want a harder ice cream.

This ice cream freezes pretty hard in the freezer section of your refrigerator.

Enjoy!!

Jalapeno, Bell Pepper, and Bean Salad

My husband found another tasty looking recipe for us to try on Facebook.  I adapted the recipe a bit to suit our taste buds.  The original recipe called for 3/4 cup of sugar in the dressing, which involved cooking the dressing in a pan on the stove top until the sugar dissolved.  Why add more empty calories and one extra step to the preparation, when it tastes quite fine without the sugar?


Jalapeno, Bell Pepper and Bean Salad

1 can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1 can black-eyed peas, drained and rinsed
1 can sweet corn, drained and rinsed
1 jalapenos, minced
1 red onion, diced (optional, I will leave this out next time)
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 orange bell pepper, diced
1 yellow bell pepper, diced
1/4 cup organic canola oil
1 tsp black pepper
3/4 cup organic apple cider vinegar

Mix all ingredients together and let sit in fridge several hours or overnight.  One serving is equal to about one cup.  Makes about 8 cups.

Jalapeno, Bell Pepper, and Bean Salad

Makes a HUGE bowl!

Look at all those veggies!

Very Chocolatey Brownies

In honor of Caitlyn, who is leaving the Library and moving far, far away, on Wednesday I baked my first recipe from The Joy of Vegan Baking by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau (which Caitlyn gave me).  A copy of this book is available through the Washington County Library System or Carrie's personal library :-).

Holy moly!  These are VERRRRRY Chocolatey Brownies!  Delicious, if you love chocolate.  My husbands' response to tasting them was "Yuck, these taste like you dumped a can of cocoa in them."  He's not so far from the truth, as they call for 3/4 of a cup of cocoa!

This is a definite repeat recipe, although I have not calculated the nutrition facts yet - that may make them a once-in-a-while treat.  The good thing about them, is they are oil-free, egg-free, and dairy-free!  Yes!  But not sugar-free!

With a little coconut ice cream...

Eggplant Pomodoro Pasta

My sister, Dina, was just here for a visit, along with one of her twin sons, Christopher, who is in the Marines.  He is shipping out to serve a term in Okinawa, Japan very soon.  We will miss him greatly while he's gone, but hopefully, my sister and I will get to take a LONG trip to visit him in a year or so.  Plus there's also Skype!

Having a bountiful garden this year, Dina brought me some eggplant and squash from her garden.  She also found a couple of recipes for me to try out using the eggplant.  Eggplant is an excellent source of  fiber and manganese.  It is a very good source of enzyme-catalyzing molybdenum and heart-healthy potassium.  Eggplant is also a good source of vitamin K and magnesium as well as heart-healthy copper, vitamin C, vitamin B6, folate, and niacin.  Eggplant also contains phytonutrients such as nasunin and chlorogenic acid.  (Source:  The World's Healthiest Foods)

Below is the recipe I chose, due mostly to its' simplicity!!  It turned out pretty tasty, and a little bit spicy - which we liked.  I served this dish with some buttered Naan bread.

Eggplant Pomodoro Pasta (adapted from Eating Well)

2 T. extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium eggplant, (about 1 lb), cut into 1/2-inch cubes.  I did not peel my eggplant.
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cans Hunts Basil, Garlic and Oregano Diced Tomatoes (I used one can tonight, but it definitely needed more liquid for sauce)
1/3 cup chopped pitted green olives
2 T. red-wine vinegar
4 tsp. capers, rinsed
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
2 tsp. dried basil
12 oz pasta (We have preferred Pozza's Pasta, a local brand, for as long as I can remember!)
Parmesan cheese, to taste,

Preparation:  
1)  Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat.  Add eggplant and cook, stirring occasionally, until just softened, about 5 minutes.  Add garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds to one minute.  Add tomatoes, olives, vinegar, capers, pepper, crushed red pepper, and basil, and cook, stirring, 5 to 7 minutes more (while the pasta cooks).
2)  Meanwhile, cook pasta in boiling water according to package directions.  Drain and divide the pasta among six shallow bowls.  Spoon the sauce over the pasta and sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top.

Eggplant Pomodoro Pasta

Be Here Now

Recently I finished reading Be Here Now by Ram Dass (formerly Richard Alpert), written in 1971.  The edition I purchased is the Nook e-reader enhanced version, complete with the reproductions of the author's handwritten text and illustrations.  Thankfully, there is a transcription of the handwritten writings, as I cannot tell which direction to turn my Nook to read some of the drawings/writings!  The author was obviously under the influence of LSD or some such mind-altering drug when he did the original writing.  I didn't let that scare me off though!   Notwithstanding the books idiosyncrasies in style, it does have a lot of good ideas.   In fact, I actually quite liked the book.

I often struggle with trying to do too many things at once, with the result that none of the things I'm working on get my full attention.  Sometimes, my husband has made me realize that I wasn't REALLY listening to what he was saying, since I could not respond to his question or statement - my mind was somewhere else.  If anything, this book has awakened more awareness that I need to BE HERE NOW more often than not.  Give my full attention to the person I am talking with.  Give my full attention to the recipe I am preparing.  Yoga helps us to return to the NOW by focusing on our breath and noticing how we feel in different asanas.  

Summer Salad

My favorite summer salad that is soooo easy to prepare is Black-Eyed Pea Salad.  The first time I ever had this salad was in Newnan, Georgia.  Each week I attended an oil painting class and once a month we would have an "Eating Meeting", where each student would bring a dish and we would paint, then eat, and then paint some more.  Donna Haynes brought this dish and I fell in love with it!  Donna is a talented painter, and she and her husband now run a Bed and Breakfast in a beautiful, historic home in Pine Mountain, Georgia called The Chipley Murrah House.  Her paintings grace the walls of the house, surrounded by Victorian style furniture and the gorgeous gardens outside.  Callaway Gardens is a short distance away.  We've been to Callaway a couple of times to see the azaleas in bloom.  One summer we went there and saw The Beach Boys in concert.  That was fun!

Black-Eyed Pea Summer Salad

1 can black-eyed peas, drained and rinsed
1 can white shoe peg corn, drained
1 cucumber, peeled and diced
1 tomato, chopped (can use a can of diced petite tomatoes if you don't have a fresh tomato)

Mix all ingredients and marinate in Italian dressing of your choice in the refrigerator.  The longer it marinates, the better it tastes!  Will keep for several days in the fridge.

HOW TO MAKE LOTION BARS

My sister can make ANYTHING!  Believe me, she's AWESOME!  The recipe below is from my dear sister, Dina at Five Cats From Crazy.  These lotion bars are SO easy to make!  To use a lotion bar, warm it up between your hands for a minute or less, then glide it down your legs, or any area that needs moisture.  Your skin will feel a tiny bit oily/greasy at first, but it rapidly absorbs.  These bars are especially good for itchy, wintery skin.  The ingredients can mostly be found at Ozark Natural Foods, on-line, or from any good natural foods store.

Final Product After Hardening

Top View of Mold

After Pouring Into Mold

4 oz shea butter (try to find deodorized shea butter as regular can have slightly "off" smell, can also use deodorized cocoa butter).  I couldn't find anything labeled "deodorized". 
4 oz beeswax pastilles
5 ounces jojoba oil (can use sweet almond oil instead)
4 grams Vitamin E Oil (optional)
2 tsp Essential Oil of your choice (Fred loves Eucalyptus & I love Lavendar)

1. Weigh out ingredients.  I weighed and put all (except fragrance) in a coffee can and then put the can in a pot of boiling water to melt it all together.  Stir with a disposable spoon.  **Crimp the top of the can also, to make it sort of have a spout for easy pouring.

2. Mix well, stir in essential oil, and pour into molds or lotion bar containers. **Found clear plastic molds at Hobby Lobby that makes 4 rectangular or 4 oval bars.  This recipe made exactly 4 bars for me.

3. Mixture will harden in approximately 1-2 hours. The cooler the mixture is upon pouring it, the less pockets you'll get in it (but don't wait too long to pour it!).  When hardened, they will pop out of the mold easily.  Before everything cools/hardens in the coffee can after pouring, wipe it out well with a paper towel.  Would NOT advise washing or pouring down sink because of hardening beeswax.