Barbequed Turkey with Okra

Barbequed turkey thighs slowly roasted with garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, and finished with BBQ sauce. Okra spiced with chili and garlic powder sauteed in olive oil and finished with some fresh lemon.

Adult Happy Meal

BBQ'd pork side ribs (garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, and salt done in the oven at 250F for 3 hours and then finished on the BBQ with BBQ sauce) served with smiley fries and fresh blanched green beans.

Serious Home Fries

Aggressively fried russet potatoes, sweet onions, mushrooms, BBQ'd bacon and finished with some chunks of old cheddar. Ideally this is all fried in the bacon fat. This is definitively a complete meal containing all the food groups!

Zucchini Tofu Stir-fry

Stir-fried zucchini and firm tofu with sweet onions and fresh garlic in olive oil. Served with steamed brown rice and topped with some hot sauce.

Frying outside in the summer is a good thing :-)

Shrimp Pasta Salad

Shrimp Pasta Salad made with sweet red and yellow peppers, celery, sweet onions, parsley, salt, olive oil, cider vinegar, and rotini. Some might like this served with bread :-)

Pulled Pork Sandwich with Cajun Corn Salad

Pulled pork (a boneless pork loin, onions, garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, and salt done in the slow cooker and finished with BBQ sauce) topped with BBQ sauce on a fancy bun with Cajun corn salad on the side (corn, sweet peppers, sweet onions, cilantro, chili powder, salt, olive oil, and cider vinegar)

Cinnamon Buns

Making them yourself they're a fraction of the price and and they're OMG good. This recipe is for 12 rolls in a 9x13 pan

• 4 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 package quick rise yeast
• 1 cup milk
• 1/3 cup butter
• 2 eggs

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/3 cup softened butter

1. mix 1 cup of the flour, yeast, salt, sugar
2. warm the milk and butter to 130F then add to dry and mix
3. mix in the eggs
4. add the remaining flour and fold till smooth
5. let sit for 10 minutes
6. knead for 5 minutes then roll out a big rectangle ~18x18
7. spread dough with butter, sugar, and cinnamon
8. roll up dough and cut into 12
9. grease the pan and fill with the rolls
10. cover and let rise until nearly doubled ~45 minutes
11. bake at 400 till golden... ~ 20 minutes
12. make the frosting... beat the cream cheese, butter, sugar, vanilla and fire at will

• 1/2 cup cream cheese
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla

Quick Baba Ghanoush

Don't buy this stuff premade :-)

4 cups of roasted eggplant
3 cloves garlic
1/4 cup olive oil
1/3 cup tahini
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 tsp salt

Roast the eggplant till soft then peel. Use a food processor until desired consistency. Don't kill it... keep some texture.

Quick Hummus

Don't buy this stuff premade :-)

4 cups of drained chickpeas
3 cloves garlic
1/4 cup olive oil
1/3 cup tahini
1/3 cup lemon juice
1 tsp salt

Use a food processor until desired consistency. Don't over process. You'll need to add some water to get it right.

Erik's Veggie Platter

Thank you son :-)

Banana Bread

• 4 large very ripe bananas
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 c melted butter
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup yoghurt
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1.5 tsp baking soda

1. mash bananas with extreme prejudice
2. beat in yogurt, eggs, sugar, vanilla, and nutmeg
3. gently mix into flour and baking soda
4. a buttered Bundt is best
5. bake at 350F
6. ~45 minutes

Vegan Stir Fry

Sweet onion, carrots, bok choy, celery, garlic, ginger, and firm tofu sauteed in olive oil and finished with mirin and soy sauce. Served with steamed brown rice.

Yoghurt

Even using organic milk this yogurt is 1/3 the price of non-organic yogurt. Yea! Thanks for the idea Alice.

Use store bought plain yoghurt as a starter for the first time. I got one that says it has an active culture of Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus bulgaricus. After the first time use the homemade yoghurt as the starter.

1. 4 of 1 litre mason jars in a pot that is shorter than the jars
2. put sticks (i.e. wooden skewers or popsicle sticks) under the jars for thermal separation and to minimize blurping
3. fill with 1% milk
4. fill with water to well below lids
5. bring to 180F (~50 minutes on small burner at high)
6. remove from burner and let sit for 30 minutes
7. carefully flush pot water with increasingly cold tap water
8. let sit until cooled to 115F (~30 minutes)
9. pitch starter at 25ml per litre and stir well
10. put entire pot with water in oven
11. keep at 110F for 6 hours
12. refrigerate immediately 

This yoghurt will last for several weeks if unopened and in the fridge. The $20 remote thermometer works very well!

references:
Food Fermentation Technology‎ - Yogurt
Formation and Physical Properties of Yogurt 
Sensory Quality Aspects of Yoghurt

Nachos Deluxe

A layer of frijoles refritos covered with a layer of seasoned beef (chili, garlic, onion, paprika, and pepper), tortilla chips, old cheddar cheese, pickled hot peppers, sweet red peppers, and sweet onions.

Served with the deluxe trinity for nacho dips... Cajun sour cream made with just Cajun Spice. Guacamole made with ripe avocados, grated onions and garlic, Cajun spice, and fresh lime juice. And... salsa sauce.

Barbeque

My healthy version of barbeque that does give me Total Barbeque Satisfaction. Yes... really.

Cajun Corn made with Cajun spice and a bit of butter. Collard Greens with Vidalia onions, cider vinegar, and hot sauce. Red rice stir fried with mushrooms and garlic. Slowly barbequed chicken thighs that were prepped with Cajun spice and finished with barbeque sauce.

Stone Salad

If I can make Stone Soup...why not Stone Salad :-)

Cucumbers, sweet peppers, sweet onions, tomatoes, carrots, avocado, fresh parsley, brown rice, chick peas, olive oil, and fresh lemon juice.

A perfect travel lunch.

Blueberries and Oatmeal

Fresh blueberries on oatmeal made with golden raisins and served with soy milk.

Tuna and Peas

A seared tuna steak with sweet peas, brown rice, and some fresh lemon. Plain and simple goodness.

Roasted Veggie Pizza and Salad

A roasted veggie pizza with roasted tomatoes, roasted mushrooms, roasted garlic, and Kalamata olives, on a sauteed sweet onion base. Mixed green salad with a balsamic dressing made of just balsamic vinegar and olive oil.

An Avocado

This is how my mom served it to me.... with store bought Catalina dressing. It just works like nothing else!