Spinach Rice Casserole

 So far, this is a favorite!  It makes a ton so I was able to eat it for lunch all week, it has lots of good stuff in it. I am not a huge fan of spinach however I chopped it up so finely, and there is so much other good stuff in it, that the flavor was not overpowering. This is going into my vegetarian hall of fame!

 This recipe called for a lot of ingredients. I am trying to cut back on my dairy so I used almond milk and subbed half the cheese for dairy free "cheese".  I also used brown rice as always.  The eggs and "milk" are listed as optional. Unless you want to make this a vegan dish, I would go ahead and add them. It makes for a  more moist dish. I also used a lot more sunflower seeds than the recipe called for. This was a great move. It added some crunchiness and additional texture to the casserole.

 2 lbs of spinach sounded like a lot. I bought two bags and each bag was 9oz so I used a lot less than it called for. I do think that 2lbs might be a bit much but I may try it next time since spinach is such a great source of iron.

 Elijah was a great helper in the kitchen as always. :)  He loves being worn when I am moving around....not so much a fan when I am sitting still....like now....I am in front on the computer wearing him and he is not thrilled.

This was a great recipe and my in laws and neighbor came over for dinner the night I served this. Everyone enjoyed it and had seconds!

Curried Butternut Squash and Mushroom Soup

 The Squash Soup called for Butternut Squash. I did not take into account that Acorn Squash is not available in Houston the heat of the summer....so I substituted yellow squash. I think the soup would have been a bit better if the correct squash had been used. Still it was not too bad.

 I used my Ninja for the blending. I LOVE my Ninja! It is perfect when you need to get soups really smooth. I think yellow squash has a higher water content than Butternut squash so the consistency was thinner than I would have liked.

 As usual, I added more of each spice than the recipe called for. I always think this is necessary. Also, the Moosewood recipes tend to be a little flat so I added some additional salt to taste....to too much. Just enough. Chip and I both thought that the orange juice in the recipe was a little overpowering. This could be due to the substitution of squash. I am looking forward to making this again and using butternut squash.

Orange Cake

 The last Girl Vs. Moose blog entry for me was in August, right before I found out I was pregnant! It is no coincidence. I took a hiatus from housework, including cooking due to the high risk status of my first trimester and the insistence of my husband. Well I am back....with a helper! 

 Our son, Elijah will be continuing my cooking journey with me. First, as a passenger in his baby carrier, and later, hopefully he will be my little helper in the kitchen. At least, that is my vision. Now, back to business!

I made Orange Cake from the Moosewood Cookbook! I made a number of substitutions to try to make this recipe healthier and it worked like a charm. Even my toughest food critic, my husband, LOVED it and had a second guilt-free slice!  I used Splenda in place of sugar. I also replaced 2/3 of the butter with applesauce. This produced a low fat and MOIST cake.  The recipe recommended a bake time of 40-50 minutes. I baked it for 50 and this produced a really nice, sweet outer layer.

 I also made 50% more glaze than the recipe called for. The glaze was orange juice, sugar (Splenda) and lemon juice. I recommend using the larger amount because I think this helped make the cake that much more moist!  I did get slightly concerned when I was "fluffing" the butter/applesauce and Splenda because it looked like it was not mixing well, but it turned out beautifully!!! Also, I did not sift the flour....basically because I don't have a sifter....but it did not seem to make a difference. I HIGHLY recommend this recipe!~

Succotash Chowder

I am beginning the chowder section of the book. This week it was Succotash! For those of you that don't know, succotash is corn and lima beans together. Sufferin' succotash! First the recipe called for fresh limas. I used frozen. Really just as good as fresh and so much easier. As always, a little more onion was used than the recipe called for. And I also used skim milk. This recipe is virtually fat free. I may try to use Almond milk for the next one to make it vegan...though I am going to be on bed-rest this week and it might be a good idea to make life easier and use skim milk again because I know that works. I definitely don't want to ruin my weeks of lunches when someone else will be taking care of me.

Here you can see the onion and celery cooking together. This is usually the point when Chip wanders into the kitchen and asks what I am cooking because it smells so good!

After you add the limas and corn to the onion mixture, it is recommended that you put half into a food processor to make a thicker soup. I did this, then added the milk and was not happy with the thickness SO.........I pulled out my hand submersion blender (Thank you Janet Parish!) and thickened it up. I did not blend it to the point of smoothness as this should be a chunky soup, but because no cream is used, I wanted to give it a more chowdery texture.

The soup was delicious. Huge success! I am looking forward to this up coming week's vegetable chowder! Enjoy!

Minestrone Soup

This was, by far, the best minestrone soup I have ever eaten! It has an amazing rich flavor and a great variety of vegetables. First some alterations from the original recipe.

I always go a little over with the onions. The recipe called for two cups, I probably added about 1/4 to 1/2 cup more. I used zucchini, though the recipe says you can use eggplant instead or in addition. I do like eggplant but just didn't have any in the house. This is a great recipe to go overboard with the seasonings. Sometimes, as I found out with the cream of celery soup, it is not a good idea. In this case, it worked! A little extra of all the herbs made this soup very rich and delicious. Mine was also a little thicker and more of a stew due to the tomato puree. I used two 14 ounce cans.

The recipe also calls for parsley to be used as a garnish. Parsley is a great herb full of antioxidants and so I chose to add a couple large handfuls in the soup as it cooked so I can fully reap all the benefits parsley has to offer....and it was a perfect addition! I ate this soup all week long and never got sick of it. Towards the end of the week, I noticed some fresh mozzarella in the fridge and tried putting a couple chunks on the soup before reheating it in the microwave. This was a great idea! Not only did it taste amazing but mozzarella cheese is naturally low in fat so it added calcium without making it unhealthy. Bon Appetit!

Light Cream of Celery Soup

I always start my prep work by chopping everything at the beginning. I used to chop as I went along and it ends up being too stressful trying to time everything. Notice there are two separate (and differently chopped) piles of celery.

This is a "before" shot...before used my submersion blender (greatest invention in the world by the way!)

I sauteed the onions and other celery while I was busy "submersion" blending the soup base. As a result, the bottom layer of onions got a little burnt...but not too bad. Be sure to keep an eye on them. They are very finely chopped and don't take long to cook.

The Light Cream of Celery Soup was a very pleasant suprise. First of all, it is less than a hundred calories a serving. I use skim milk so this helps a lot. I would like to try almond milk next time to make it vegan! The potatoes I used were a little larger than the recipe recommends. I did this because the prospect of Cream of Celery made me nervous and the potato is an old, comforting friend. I also substituted light Country Crock for butter as I normally do. Even butter fanatics probably can't tell the difference. It is only used for cooking the onions and once it gets all put together, the other flavors take over any butter or margarine flavor that was once a part of the vegetables. Word to the wise. Be careful with the white pepper. I tend to add more herbs and spices than the recipes in this book call for. This does not bode well for the Cream of Celery. It ended up OK but has a little more kick than it is suppose to. The recipe calls for sour cream. I did not add this to the soup as recommended and had I not overdone it with the pepper, it would not have needed it. However, I scoop just a little on my bowl of soup when I serve it to cut the kick. The color, I know, is not appealing, but it ended up being a great discovery of soup and I know I will be making it again.

Mushroom Moussaka

Here it is ready to be served!

The casserole comes out bubbly and fabulous!

Mark helped Wrigley see what was going on up there!

The fabulous Mushroom Sauce!

I have never had Moussaka before this so I have no basis for comparison but, WOW! It was delicious and I am happy to say that I have an entire casserole to enjoy throughout the week. This is a very low fat, vegetarian dish full of flavor, fiber, mushrooms and herbs. There four layers to this dish. A layer of eggplant, the thick and tomato-y mushroom sauce, another layer of eggplant and topped off with the wonderful Bechamel Sauce! I do have some notes on alternation as well as what I will do differently next time. First of all, I used, as always, non fat milk. I hope to eventually use my almond milk for these things but I don't know if the Bechamel Sauce would have thickened. Next time, I would probably use 4 eggplants instead of 3. The top layer wasn't completely covered. Also, although my Bechamel Sauce was AMAZING, I think it turned out a lot thicker than it was suppose to. This top layer browns in the oven if you leave it in long enough and almost has a light cheese sauce flavor to it. That layer is probably the least healthy, but again I used non fat milk and light margarine and really only 3 tablespoons of the margarine for the entire casserole. It was a delicious experience that I will enjoy for the week to come. Now, as many of you know, I severely injured my foot last weekend so, alas, no heavy duty workouts for me for a while. With that in mind, I will be moving to the salad section of the Moosewood cookbook to try to keep the weight down. So look forward to some great light salad recipes in the weeks to come!

Mushroom, Broccoli, Noodle Casserole

Chip and I had planned to spend the day together before his trip to Michigan next week and last minute he got called into work. As a result, I got in a very long workout at the gym, cleaned the crap out of the kitchen and knocked out another of my Moosewood Cookbook recipes. Wow! This one turned out great. I did a few alternations from the original recipe. First of all, I used whole wheat noodles cause, well, I always use whole wheat when I can. The recipe is not very specific on amounts when it comes to broccoli so I think I used more than it suggests which is great, but then there is less sauce to cover it and the mushrooms and onions are my favorite and I used the correct amount of them so next time I will use a little less broccoli. Everything I used was low fat or non-fat and I opted out of adding the cheese. Cheese if wonderful, indulgent, amazing and delicious. Cheese is also the devil and I am doing my best to limit if not eliminate it from my life. I also think I might need to add more salt next time. I use sea salt, which isn't as salty. Aunt Shula, I think you would especially like this one. You are going to want to add more mushrooms and probably opt in the cheese. There is cottage cheese in the sauce mixture. Do not let this scare you away from this fabulous meal. When it is mixed with everything else, it creates a delicious, creamy goodness that is also full of protein, calcium and is low fat! Bon Appetit!

Ukranian Poppyseed Cake

Coraline picked this one out. I was surprised how delicious poppy seed cake is! There is a lovely orange glaze that we poured on made of orange juice and sugar. It gave the cake a very heavy, moist texture. Sooooo Gooooood! I highly recommend this to even the most discriminating palet. Even more fun than eating the cake was making it with my fabulous and dear friend, Coraline!

Zingy Bean Dip

Okay, I love garlic. Garlic makes everything fantastic. But even I must admit that I went a little overboard on the garlic on this one. It was, however, still fabulous. AND super easy. Basically, you put all the ingredients into a food processor (or a blender in my case) and mix until semi-smooth. The bean of choice is pinto and there is a lot of cilantro involved. YUM! Heather and I (after many family Saturday's together) have come to the conclusion that the best meal in dips and things to dip them in....especially when there is a gathering of people. This is an excellent addition with a bit of a kick. How much kick, only you can decide. It isn't pretty but it goes great with tortilla chips or pitas! A definite crowd pleaser. Coraline was here for this one and she whole-heartedly agreed that this bean dip is a winner! Happy Dipping!

Cucumber Salad

I have always loved the cucumber salad at Indian restaurants. Just like that variety, this recipe was made with yogurt. I must say that although it was refreshing and clean, it lacked something. The onions are soaked beforehand so perhaps eliminating that step would improve the flavor. My partner in crime, who we will call Coraline for anonymity sake, did favor the cucumber salad, as did the crowd at my God-Son's birthday, where I took the remainder of the dish. Coraline was a HUGE help in adjusting the seasonings and encouraged me to add "just a little at a time and then taste". Wow. What a new and fabulous concept. I will apply this to all future endeavors. My final thoughts on this dish is that it is a fabulous summer time salad but definitely taste as you go and get creative with the seasonings.

Summer Vegetable Soup

I made the Summer Vegetable soup last weekend. I did not really alter the recipe at all. It says you have the option of adding buttermilk, but I did not. Honestly, all the fresh veggies were good but the broth was pretty much water, garlic and potatoes blended in a food processor, which on its own I think would be good, but did not make a good base for a veggie soup. I had a blast making it though! No helpers on this one. I may venture away from soups and make a dip for Jadon's birthday party tomorrow and hopefully, Susie will be here tonight to help. They maybe we will skip ahead to desserts! MmmmMmmmMmmm. Its a beautiful day ! Yesterday was fabulous and today will be even better.

Cream of Asparagus Soup

What a great and unique soup. First things first. I wanted to try to make it with almond milk so it was dairy free, but I was a little nervous about doing that for this one. Asparagus soup sounded very different to me so I did not want to stray from the recipe too much. But I will substitute milk for almond on the next cream based soup. I did, however, use fat free organic milk. And of course Smart Balance in place of butter. I don't think either substitution had any negative effects on flavor. In fact, for a cream based soup, this was light and frothy and just delicious. I think I may have over done it a little with the white pepper as well as the dill. I used fresh and a lot of it. Just something to keep in mind for next time. But it turned out great! I hope you enjoy! And as always, just send me a message if you are curious about the recipe. Or of course pick up the cookbook!

Gypsy Soup!

I had never heard of Gypsy Soup before this endeavor and let me just say, I was missing out! I stayed pretty true to the recipe since it was so new to me. Of course, I used extra garlic. I also substituted the green peppers for red and yellow since they were on sale and taste better. I used two bay leaves instead of one cause I like to live on the edge and I used canned chick peas instead of cooked fresh cause who has time for that. Once again, Kelly was my amazing chopper. I am going to have to keep her on staff in my kitchen permanently I think! Once again, I am wishing I doubled this recipe.

I am looking forward to the weekend so I can continue this soup adventure. The past few days have been somewhat yucky and today pretty much topped it off...and its still early. I am looking forward to the routine of following a recipe. And the satisfaction of tasting it!

Spicy Tomato Soup

First of all, let me just say that I am a connoisseur of tomato soup. Well, this has to be the best I have ever dipped my spoon in! I had some help with this one. Kelly was my expert chopper and I do believe she will be invited over every time I cook from now on to take on this daunting task. There were a couple of changes I did make to the recipe. I don't keep butter in the house so I used Smart Balance instead. So little butter is used in this recipe that I don't think you can tell much of a difference. I used fresh dill and a bit more than the recipe suggests. I love my herbs! My only regret: THAT I DIDN'T DOUBLE THE RECIPE!

Welcome to The Moose Wood Chronicles

Welcome Aunt Shula, Susie and probably Virginia....and whoever else is interested in this journey. On Aunt Shula's recent visit, she bought me a critically acclaimed vegetarian cookbook. I decided, in the style of two ladies named Julie and Julia, I would cook my way through this cookbook, one recipe at a time, and report on my findings, substitutions and opinions. This weekend, the adventure begins. First section: Soups! My favorite!