Teri Parris Ford's Blog

Black Bean Soup

Today begins 30 Day Challenge #3; Soup everyday for 30 days! This isn't a diet really, BUT I did read that people who ate soup regular as a meal lost weight. So I'm going to try to have soup every evening, but occasionally it will be for lunch and I thought I would try my best to make it homemade as much as possible. Tonight's choice was because I had left over black beans to use.

2 tablespoons cooking oil
1/2 cup celery, chopped
1/2 cup onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, peeled &chopped
Saute all together in a large pot then add the following: 

1/4 cup (or less) cilantro, minced
3 cups black beans (fresh is best)
4 cups water
1 tablespoon salt
1 can corn 
1 can of tomato sauce
1 jar of salsa (medium/hot for spicier soup)
corn tortilla chips

 

We got that funk...

Today was one of those rainy days that made it hard to get a lot done, but I tried. The drizzle began right away and I wasn't sure I'd make it out with Balt, but after dropping Jess off at Basketball practice I decided to take him up to Indian Lake for a wet walk around. I met a girl friend there (not planned) and it made the round go by a lot faster. Balt was thrilled with the company as well. He came home happy as can be. I ran a couple of errands before picking Jess back up-- including picking up my organic vegies and came home to start cooking. I made a stew, a pie and home-made bread rolls.  I went grocery shopping and then to yoga. After taking the week off of yoga, today's class was painful. I found I had hurt my knee somehow, it felt brused and looked swollen, but my feet felt a better. For dinner the four of us girls enjoyed a nice hearty dinner by the fire watching a chick flick (Something Borrowed, 2011)-- their dad is in Milwaukee doing his army thing.  I sorted socks and ate pie, falling asleep next to the fire with Balt laying all over the socks. 

Organic Veggie "Give Up the Funk" Stew
1 can evaporated milk
3 cups water
1 veggie boullion
1 onion
3 large potatoes peeled, chopped
1 sweet potato peeled, chopped
1/2 golden calliflower chopped
1 cup brocolli chopped
1 can sweet organic corn
4 stalks of celery chopped
garlic, salt, pepper
2 T butter, 2 ou cheddar cheese chopped, 2 T flour, 1 cup water warmed slowly in a pan until melted into a thick gravy. Add to stew to thicken after a 4 hours in a crock pot. Serve with fresh bread.

Saturday CSA

Today was one of those rare days with NOTHING going on, nothing. Our family loves those days. They happen every so often but not often enough. After my morning dog park visit with Balt, I picked up my vegetables from my CSA (community supported agriculture) box. I got home and got to work. I always start with the stuff left from last week (or even older). I cut a bunch of stuff up and started cookin'.

Pasta Prima Salad
I boil up a box of multi-grain pasta while I saute a variety of veggies. Add a good amount of olive oil to a pan with chopped onions and fresh garlic. Zuccini, tomato, bell pepper and basil are musts but I like to add bok choy, carrots or carrot greens, or other greens that I need to use. Pour over sauted veggies onto drained pasta and then add parmesian or romano cheese. I like to add Newman's Own Dressing for added spice. I put it all in the fridge in a covered dish for a convenient side dish for lunches.

Hot Salsa
I mentioned making salsa last month. I've been making it almost every week now but I've learned to add beets. Boy, it brightens it up and tastes great. Since I'm not a beet fan, it's a nice way to use them up with actually tasting them.

Green Bean Casarole
This is Monika's absolute favorite special dish. I'm not sure the French's recipe is all that healthy but mixing fresh green beans with canned beans must help as well as a fat free mushroom soup. 

It's easy to love vegetables in the summer!

I made a broccoli salad today. I had a couple of bunches that were starting to bloom, so I needed to eat it all up fast. The broccoli slaw recipe I had used ramen noodles, so that was a no go. I found other recipes with mayo and I can't do that either. I finally found this recipe that I love:Chopped up broccoli heads with stems, Red onion chopped up, Chopped pecans, Raisins, Apple vinegar cider and oil- I used walnut oil. I threw in some soy sauce and ginger just to spice it up a bit more. I loved this salad. I ate some for lunch and dinner-- it was quite filling.

With a high of 95 & 80% humidity, it's even too hot for the pool, but it's never too hot for hot yoga. With all of my fruit and veggies I'm eating, I knew it would be a good time to detox, so I did a Bikram set at noon. I sweat so much my face hurt from the constant pouring out of liquid. I got a little shaky, knowing my plum-grapefruit smoothie for breakfast was not enough. I feel frustrated at times that after a solid year of yoga practice,inconsistently consistent as it is, I still feel like a beginner at times. I still struggle with balance and strength--made worse because of my feet. Still, I left today invigorated

The Ford is in the shop so I had to do a little extra picking up and dropping off today. I don't mind it at all, and sometimes wish we could go back to being a one car family, but I know others are much more bothered than I am.  Monika had a school planning meeting today and Jessi is working all week at her pool. I decided to go to Costco for dinner. I was craving strawberries and I could get a roasted chicken and cheese pizza for the family. Everyone was happy. I made a strawberry lemonade for dessert. Heaven.

Hot Salsa

I am not a perfectionist and I don't cook like one. The problem is that sometimes I make something really spectacular and it's hard for me to recreate it because I created it so organically, without thought to write exactly what I did down. I made an amazing hot salsa this morning that was over-the-top yummy. I started with a can of organic diced tomatoes because my tomatoes are still green in my garden. I picked four chilies that looked relatively ripe but only chopped two. I had dried chilies from my CSA, so I chopped one of those (seeds and all) and put that in the bowl. I cut some orange bell pepper, sliced cucumber, chopped a clove of fresh garlic and a quarter of a sweet onion. I threw in a bunch of sweet spanish onion greens (also from CSA). I sprinkled in some paprika, a bit of garlic, celery seed, cayenne, and of course, salt and pepper . I dumped the whole lot into the blender and pulse chopped it a few times just get things a little better blended. OMG, it was so good. 

The day was super slow and crazy hot-- 96 w/ 73% humity. I took Balt to the dog park very early, came home and went over my reciepts from my trip with coffee and a bagel. My 13 days of a fun family vacation only cost me $41.50 per day, per person! It adds up kind of fast. Today the girls did not want to leave the luxury of our air conditioning but I did. I went to the pool and enjoyed reading under a shaded area, jumping in the pool every 30 minutes or so. I left the pool to go to hot yoga. When it's 96 outside, 105 inside isn't that much hotter. And then Balt started a new "intermediate" dog training class. He did so well. He always does so much better in front of others!

I've been trying to get back into the Bikram hot yoga. It is a very different workout than power yoga, much more mental but still a workout. I was so sore after my first class back on Thursday. I was thinking about the parable in Matthew 7:24-27 about foundation. My feet have been in a lot of pain the past several months. My feet are my foundation and I have not felt like I am standing on solid ground. It makes exercise so much more difficult. As I sweat buckets of liquid in a near delirium, I wondered...

40 Day Fast: Day Four (Soup)

After three days, my daily intake of coffee, a fruit smoothie and soup has become more than enough to keep me satisfied. Of course, soup for dinner isn't just liquid, but I am keeping it vegetarian and feeling healthy. My kids are thrilled with having a crockpot of homemade soup everyday. Today's soup; Potato Spinach: Start by sauteing onion and celery in a 1/4C butter and throw in 3C of peeled, chopped potatoes. In a crockpot add 3C water, 1/4C flour and a can of evaporated skim milk with 1C chopped fresh spinach and 1T salt. Top with parmesian cheese-- YUM!

Today was a busy day, especially in Madison. Over 100,000 showed up to the capitol to watch 50 tractors and lots of rally speakers, including Monk (Tony Shalhoub)! My intention was to get there in time to see the tractors, but between tennis, track, laundry, walking the dog and a yoga class, my morning got overwhelming. I did make it to the capitol but not untill most of the hoopla was over. I met up with friends for a round about the capitol. Demonstrations continue just as strong as before the bill was signed in order to rally the people to fight... recall info is everywhere, money and people are pouring in from everywhere. Madison is now the hub of a union power revival where Teamsters are like rock stars! (see video). If only I could borrow my dad's teamster jacket for a few walks around the capitol!

Other items of note; Wisconsin Labor Protesters Refuse to Quit from FoxNews has a great quote from an English teacher from my school, and  Madison teachers' union agrees to wage, benefit concessions in new contract from WSJ tells me that my wages are frozen for a while and I will pay toward my pension now about $3,200 this year another $700 for insurance.

Who feels fat?

I made my aunt Bertha's pumpkin cake for Thanksgiving instead of pumpkin pie this year. I made an apple pie as well. The family gobbled up the apple pie but the pumpkin cake lasted until tonight, when I finished it with a cup of decaf while watching an episode of Monk with Jim. Actually all the leftovers are officially eaten as of this afternoon, I had to order a pizza for dinner. Jim finished off the turkey for lunch, I finished off the stuffing. Jessi had a big bowl of mashed potatoes and gravy for lunch while Monika finished off the green bean casserole. While everyone loves that I make enough food for leftovers, all I heard was complaints today about how fat everyone feels. Yeah, I feel fat too. Now that the leftovers are gone we all start diets tomorrow... or maybe on Monday?

Aunt Bertha's Pumpkin Cake
Box cake mix (or I use 2C flour, 1C sugar, 4t B.powder, 1t salt)
Set aside 1/2C of cake mix for topping
Add 1/2C (or a stick) of butter + 1/2C brown sugar 
Press mixture to the pan
Fill with pumpkin pie filling (use recipe for an actual pie)
Top with 1/2C cake mix + 1t cinnamon + 1/4C brown sugar
Bake until firm (350 for about an hour).
Tastes just like pumpkin pie only sweeter! Reminds me of my childhood! 

 

Fresh Pumpkin Pie

Last night I cut a couple of small pumpkins up and put them in the oven for about an hour. Then after the Thanksgiving dinner was over, I pulled out the soft chunks I left in a pan overnight and just scooped out the mushy flesh right into my blender.  I add a can of evaporated milk and 3 eggs. I add pumpkin until the blender is full.  I pour the mixture into a bowl and add 1/2 cup of white sugar and 1/2 cup of brown, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon of ginger, 1/4 teaspoon of cloves and 1/4 teaspoon of salt.  All of this is poured into a large pie pan.  I buy prepared crusts to make the process even easier!  Yum! 

Vegetarian Potato Leek Soup

2T Butter
1 C chopped Leeks
2 -3 C sliced Potatoes
1 C water
1 vegetable bullion cube
1 C milk
1/4 C cream or half&half
salt & pepper

Melt butter and saute leeks. Add water and dissolve bullion.  Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer.  Put soup into a blender for a creamy soup.
 

Blueberry Bran Cereal Muffins

I'm still cooking!
I haven't post much about all the cooking I have done lately.  I still get my weekly CSA box of fruit and vegetables that I have to deal with.  It means being creative or else being wasteful.  Last night's cheese pizza from Papa Murphy's had leeks, arugula, sweet peppers and purple onion added on top of a quarter of it.  Tonight Monika and I had a stir fry which is the best way to deal with random vegis!  For tomorrow's staff meeting I wanted to make muffins.  I have blueberries that need to be used but I wanted bran muffins.  I didn't have any bran, but I did have bran cereal.  So I came up with this recipe:
1C flour
1C bran cereal
1/4C flax meal
1/2C brown sugar
4t baking powder
1/2t salt
1 egg
1C milk
1/4C olive oil
1/4C cottage cheese
1C blueberries

Fruit Cobbler

Every other week we get a box of organic fruit from our CSA.  This week's box included peaches, nectarines and plums all very ripe.  I decided to make a fruit cobbler with it and it was delicious!

Cut up fruit into bite size bits add 1/2 brown sugar, mix.  Pour into a deep dish pie pan with a crust.  Top with a mixture of 1C oatmeal, 1/2 c flour, 1/2 c sugar, 1/2 c butter. Bake at 350 until brown.

Vegetarian Chocolate Pie (aka- Silk Pie)

Ever since Monika became a vegetarian I have missed chocolate jello!  I enjoy searching the internet for recipes and combining them into a unique Teri Ford recipe.  I have found this to work well in general.  During my search for vegetarian chocolate recipes (no gelatin) I found that French Silk recipes were custard based (eggs) and most recipes did not ask for jello at all!  I was amazed that this recipe is not cooked and therefore a little risky to eat.  Make sure the eggs are fresh, without cracks and refrigerated!

1/2c butter (1 stick salted)
1c sugar
3 ou squares of unsweetened chocolate
2t real vanilla
3 eggs (whipped well)
cooked pie shell

Melt the butter and chocolate together very slowly (on low). Whip the eggs, vanilla and sugar together.  Slowly add the chocolate, whipping together.  Pour into a cooled pie shell and refrigerate (I freeze it!)-- top with whipped creme for added fat!!

Traditional 4th of July Flag Fruit Pizza

Every fourth of July we all go to Janet's for lunch and I bring a large cookie-cake with flag shaped fruit.  This years was the best ever...the crust is key!

CRUST--> spread evenly across large cookie sheet & bake for 10 minute in 450 preheated oven.
1c butter
2c sugar
3/4t baking soda
1/2t salt
2t real vanilla
3 eggs
3 1/2c flour
2t baking powder

FROSTING--> whip & spread evenly over cooked and cooled crust (above).
16ou cream cheese
2t vanilla
1/2c sugar
2-4T water

Topping--> blueberries are packed into a square area in top left corner & strawberries are sliced thickly and laid across into stripes to look like the US flag!

Monika's Blueberry Muffins

Preheat oven to 350.
Crush 1/4C blueberries into bowl.

1/2C butter
1 1/4C sugar
1/2t salt
2 eggs
2C flour
2t baking powder
1/4C milk
1/4C half & half
1C blueberries
mix and pour into muffin pan.

Add 2T sugar on top of muffins before cooking.

Fresh Spinach Dressing &/or Dip

I have more spinach then I know what to do with and I love spinach dip, so I decided to make up recipe!  It is a little thin for dip, but tastes great.  I can't wait to try it on salad!

1 bunch of fresh spinach- stem cut off
3/4 cup mayo with olive oil
3/4 cup low fat sour cream
3/4 cup organic yogurt
green garlic and/or green onion
3t onion soup mix (Knorr)
>> use the food processor to mix!

Sunchoke Spinach Dip

There is a reception tomorrow that I volunteered to bring food for.  I have a lot of sunchokes from my CSA box.  Sunchokes are also known as Jerusalem artichokes and are species of the sunflower.  They have a mild flavor alone so  I spiced up my dip with spinach!

1 C smashed cooked sunchokes (boiled with garlic clove and blended with olive oil and lemon)
2 C chopped spinach (fresh)
1 whole green onion (chopped)
2 cloves of garlic
2 T mayo
2 T plain yogurt
1 T melted butter
1 T Knorr's french onion dip mix

I put all of it into my food processor and hit high.  It looks like guac and kind of tastes like it too!

Root Stir Fry

Dinner at the Ford's:
4T olive oil in a lg pan
1 lg. onion sliced
3-4 sm. potatoes, sliced
2-3 lg. parsnips, peeled and sliced
4-5 sm sun chokes, peeled and sliced
4-5 sm carrots, slice
2t sea salt
pepper, italian spices

top with Parmesan cheese (for Jim & Monika), serve with ketchup (for Teri & Jessi)

Rhubarb Coffee Cake

I received my first load of vegetables from our CSA this weekend.  Of course a small load of rhubarb was included.  Rhubarb is one of those spring time veggies that gives you an excuse to make something sweet.  Mother's Day was the perfect to day for coffee cake!

Batter:
1 C brown sugar
1/2 C butter
1 egg
2 C flour
1t baking soda
1t salt
2 C chopped rhubarb cooked with 1/4 C water
      + 1/2 C sugar (or Splenda)

Topping:
1/2 C finely chopped nuts
1t cinnomon
1/2t nutmeg
1/2 C brown sugar
1T butter (optional)

Preheat oven 350f

Bake for 40 minutes in a 9" X 13" pan.

Pear Cake Recipe

Because I had pears in desparate need of attention and a vegetarian daughter who wanted to start celebrating her birthday, I made a pear cake!  Yum... it was sooo good.

4 cups pears, chopped, cooked
3T butter, cook with pears
2 cups of sugar, add to cooking pears
1 teaspoon cinnamon, add to cooking pears
3 cups of flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup walnut oil
1 tsp vanilla

Pre-heat oven to 350.
Mix and pour into dusted tube pan.
Cook for 1 hour, 15 minutes.

Frost with vanilla frosting.
1/4 cup butter
2T milk
1tsp vanilla
powdered suger until smooth

Time for Tamales!

I grew up knowing that Christmas dinner was always tamales, rice and beans-- tradition.  After my grandma Emma died in 2003, I realized that tamales for dinner at her house died too.  I decided to continue the tradition in my family.  I interviewed several family members to get her recipe but that too died with her.  Emma used to make her tamales with pork fat and lard.  I remember getting a tamale full of fat, no meat.  I took it back to her for better one and she looked at it and said, "ooh, you got a good one!"  Times were different.  After my dad's heart attack she started making them with chicken.  As she aged, I think she started buying them .
I have developed my own recipe using a combination of the memory of grandma's and recipe research.  I like roast beef the best, but Jim likes chicken and my daughter insists on vegetarian ones as well.  I start out cooking the meat the night before in a slow cooker.  I add onion, garlic, a can of El Pato and a can of water.  I leave the meat to cook all day.  The next morning I separate the broth, shred the meat, add another can of El Pato and two cans of tomato sauce.

I have a pot just for steaming tamales that is very large.  My grandmother told me to add a large bowl in the middle to help cook the tamales evenly.  Fill the bottom with water.

For the corn mix I use 4 cups of fresh masa, 1T baking powder, 1C of vegetable shortening instead of lard and 4C of the broth from the slow cooker.  The mix will be fluffy and easy to spread on corn husks.  I try to be generous with the meat or else Jim will complain. 

For vegetarian tamales I use beans and cheese for the filling.  I like fresh pinto beans, but Monika likes black beans; a can is easiest with pre-grated Monterrey cheese, but soaking and simmering beans while the meat is cooking the day before works.  For the corn mixture, I use the same recipe except I boil 4 cups of water with a vegan bullion and onion instead of using broth.  Monika makes sure that all the vegetarian ones are made on clean counters (no meat residue) and cooked separated from the meat ones.

I LOVE sweet tamales!  Pineapple is my favorite, sometimes I make them with raisins, coconut, walnuts, etc.  For today's sweet tamales I used a 1/2c butter, 2 1/2C masa, 1 1/2 c corn meal, 1/4c sugar, 1T cinnamon, 1C pineapple juice, 1C water (heated), a can of sweet milk, 2t vanilla, 1C chopped pineapple chunks, and 1/2C pecans.  Every year I make them a little different!

The Winter Green Salad

1/2 Grated Celeriac
4 Grated Carrots
1 Chopped Beauty Heart Radish
2 Chopped Black Radishes
Chopped Rainbow Kale
1/4 Shredded Green Savoy Cabbage
1 Cup Spinach
1/2 Head of Red Leaf Lettuce
Olive Oil  and Red Wine Vinegar
Salt and Pepper

Pear Cobbler

4 c. peeled and sliced pears
1 c. sugar mixed into pears
set aside pears

1 stick of butter heated in dish

1 c. sugar
1 c. brown sugar
1 1/2 c. flour
3 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 c. buttermilk
1/2 c. milk
2 eggs

Pour batter over hot butter and pour pears over batter.  Cook for an hour at 350.

Vegetarian Quiche

1 c. Spinach
1 c. Broccoli
1/2 chopped Onion
Fresh garlic
4 sm Carrots chopped

3 eggs
1/2 c. Half Half
1/2 c. Milk
1/2 c. Buttermilk
1 1/2 c. grated cheese
Parsley
Italian Spice
Parmesan Cheese to top

Stir fry vegetables in olive oil. Make egg, milk, and cheese mixture in separate bowl and pour over vegis in pie plate with crust.  Sprinkle with spices.  Bake 350 for 45-50 minutes.

I use whatever vegetables I have availalble-- tomatoes, green peppers, zuccini, etc.  This is one of Monika favorite dinner dishes!

Vegetarian (or not) Cranberry Nut Stuffing

Because Monika is a vegetarian, I am always looking for a good vegetarian stuffing that will also taste good stuffed into the bird.  I tried this recipe today and I think it was a hit.

1 pkg. (32 ounces) Herb Seasoned (I used corn) Stuffing
1 medium chopped onion (I used purple)
1 c. fresh cranberries, chopped
1/2 c. chopped nuts (I used pecans)
3 chopped celery stalks
1/2 c. butter, melted
1 c. apple cider

I set a side a covered dish for Monika and used the rest to stuff our 10 lb. turkey.  Monika said hers was a little dry but tasted great with the mushroom gravy I made for her.  The stuffed stuffing was very moise and quite tastey!

Roasted Root Salad

   2-3 lbs. of roots; celeriac, parsnips, turnips, carrots, beets, etc.
   1 medium leek, onion or garlic
   1/4 c olive oil
   Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375. Chop vegetables and toss onto baking sheet with oil, salt and pepper. Bake for an hour.  Eat as is or transfer into bowl and cool.  Top onto salad greens (endive, spinach, etc) with white wine vinegar, thyme, and add persimmons, apple, pear or raisins for fun!

Leek, Feta and Spinach Quiche recipe

deep dish pie pastry
1 tbsp. melted butter
4 sm. leeks, sliced (use some greens)
1/8 c. olive oil

1 clove garlic, minced and/or 1/2 small onion

1c. chopped spinach
2 ounces Feta cheese, crumbled

2 ounces hard cheese choice (chedder or parmesian)
2 c. Milk, cream and/or Half & half
5 eggs
Salt and Pepper to taste

In skillet, saute' butter and leek, set aside. In oil, saute' onion and/or garlic, add spinach. In bowl, mix together lightly beaten eggs, cheese, and milk, mix well adding salt and pepper, and pour into pie dish over leeks. Top with spinach mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Let quiche settle before serving.

Winter Squash Pie Recipe

I have been getting squash every week in my CSA box; Acorn, Butternut, Delicata, Festival, Kabocha, and Sweet Dumpling Squash. I tried making pie with them and the family loves it. I use two different varieties per pie. I cut up my squash and bake at 350 for one hour. I separate out all the seeds and spoon out the squash from the peel-- it's very easy. I toss it straight into my blender. I add a can of evaporated milk and puree. Throw in 3 eggs, a cup of sugar (1/2 brown, 1/2 white or any mix, really), 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and pure vanilla, 1/2 tsp of ginger and 1/4 tsp of sea salt. Adding 1/4 tsp of nutmeg or cloves would taste good too... Pour mixture into a piecrust and bake at 350 for an hour. YUM!

apple pie

Monika did not want to come home tonight after soccer practice because her best friend's mom (Janet) was making apple pie for desert tonight.  I am pretty pratical- I only cook when I have to.  Tonight I had to make an apple pie to get my daughter to come home for dinner.  Erika made dinner (Papa Murphy's pizza, of course- 1/2 cheese 1/2 vegi), so the least I could do was make a good desert pie.  Monika helped (she loves to help!).  I use a great recipe from my Longaberger cookbook.  I didn't have any frozen pie crusts on hand so I even had to make the crust- I cut a big heart into the pie.  I told Monika it was because I made it with love! 

Pie Crust:
4 cups flour
1 T. sugar
1 1/2 t. salt
1 1/2 cups shortning
1 egg (beaten)
1 T. vinegar
1/2 cup water
In a large bowl, sift together flour, sugar and salt. With a pastry blender or 2 knives, cut in the shortning until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Mix together egg, vinegar and water. Add to flour mixture. Mix until dough is moistened enough so it holds together when it is formed into a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until well chilled. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into a 12" circle. Fit the dough into a pie plate. Crimp the dough to form a decorative border. Pierce the pastry with a fork. Place the crust in the freezer while preparing the filling.  Makes 2 double crust pies.

Filling:
3 cups pared, cored and sliced apples
1/2 t. cinnamon
1 cup sugar
2 T. butter or margarine
3 T. flour
3 T. Milk
Preheat oven to 375f. Mix apples, flour, sugar and cinnamon together and gently stir. Place mixture in unbaked pie shell. Dab with butter and pour the milk over the apple mixture. Place lattice or crust top on pie. Bake 40-45 minutes. Filling for 1 pie.