Monday, July 30, 2012

A few recipes and a King Snake

I've made a bunch of delicious things over the past few days so I figured I'd just do a recipe post, plus a few pics of a couple massive King Snake's that I've caught in the eggmobile lately.  This one had a cool orangey red belly.  The other was the biggest I've seen, it was as long as I was.  And I've decided that my camera hates my husband, it never takes decent pictures for him...


This one managed to bite me, the jerk!  Though it was my fault, I was trying to grab my camera with the same hand that was holding his head and he managed to latch down on my finger, man that hurt!  They have bunches of little tiny needle sharp teeth that curve backwards, so getting him detached wasn't easy.  I hauled them down the road a couple miles and dropped them off next to an old cow barn, I imagine they'll find plenty of mice in there.











And now to food, the best part!!!
My freezer is full of blueberries and we're fixing to butcher a couple pigs and a bull, so I needed to use them. And I was getting tired of the same ol' same ol' for breakfast so I decided to make something special.  It turned out absolutely delicious, I ate two bowlfuls and then helped the kids finish theirs off.  And then I started thinking about how I've been eating way too much fruit, as I chopped up 4 gallons of peaches to put in the freezer.  This time of year is awesome, but I've got ulcers on my tongue saying, "stop with the fruit already!!!"
Even though I had my camera sitting right beside the oven, I still forgot to take pictures... Oh well, take my word for it, it's as beautiful as it is delicious :)

Blueberry Crisp
4 cups ripe blueberries
1/2 t. cinnamon
1 cup blanched almond flour (store-bought or homemade)
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
1/4 cup raw honey
Preheat oven to 350F.
Rinse blueberries well, then place them in the 2-quart baking dish. Sprinkle cinnamon on top.
Mix almond flour with sea salt and baking soda in a large bowl, until well mixed. Stir in the unsweetened shredded coconut and walnuts. Melt the coconut oil, in a small pan over low heat, (heck with that, my house never gets below 76 this time of year, my coconut oil is always liquid) then add the honey to just barely melt the honey enough to mix it in. Stir the melted mixture into the almond flour mixture until well-blended, then crumble the almond flour mixture over the berries.
Bake for about 30 minutes until topping is golden brown.

Tomato Zucchini Casserole
This is ridiculously good, I ate so much I could hardly move afterwards.  This is a perfect meal to use up the abundance of tomatoes and zucchini everyone has this time of year.  Speaking of tomatoes, the garden up the hill from me is over run with tomatoes and he just posted on FB that he'll deliver for free.  So if your in need of a bunch of tomatoes to put up check them out, their organic (not in the government sense of the word, but in the real sense of the word) too, and only $1.00 a pound. Of course they have many other yummy veggies as well.  Check them out on FB http://www.facebook.com/upickitfarmgarden.winslowar
1 1/2 cups grated Cheddar cheese
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano or a bunch of fresh
1/2 teaspoon dried basil or a bunch of fresh
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons finely chopped onion
salt and pepper to taste
2 medium zucchinis, thinly sliced
5 plum tomatoes, thinly sliced

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly butter a 9x9-inch pan.
In a large bowl, combine Cheddar, Parmesan, oregano, basil, garlic, and onions. Season with salt and pepper, and set aside.
Arrange half of the zucchini slices in the pan. Sprinkle 1/4 of the cheese and herb mixture on top. Arrange half of the tomatoes, and top with another 1/4 of the cheese mixture. Repeat layers.
Bake in a preheated oven for about 45 minutes.

I actually remembered to take pictures of this one, though I was a little late on the "finished" shot.




Pineapple Banana Pie
A super quick and easy yummy desert/snack/breakfast, I used to make this all the time when I was a kid, then I forgot about it until today when my brother emailed me and asked for the recipe.  I used to use a graham cracker crust, instead I made an almond flour crust, which turned out delicious and tasted almost the same.
1 can crushed pineapple (or fresh if your so lucky as to have one)
3 super ripe banana's
Slice banana's and dump into a sauce pan with the pineapple, simmer for a few minutes til it starts to thicken a bit.  Stick it in the freezer to chill, or fridge if your not in a hurry.
Mix 1.5 cups almond flour
3 tbs melted butter (or coconut oil)
a touch of stevia or a bit of honey
1 tsp cinnamon
Press into a pie pan and stick in the oven for about 10 minutes, then stick it in the freezer or fridge to chill.  Once everything's cool dump the filling into the crust and enjoy!  You can also throw some shredded coconut on top, though for some reason I prefer it without.



3 comments:

  1. That zuchinni dish looks perfect! I've got both fresh ingredients from my garden. Maybe I'll make that tonight! Thanks! I've got some fresh Basil too--from you! :)My garden looks awful, but we are getting some things out of it despite the heat.
    Lynn

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  2. It turned out fabulous! I may have used more tomatoes than called for (I had a lot to use up!) and I definitely used more cheese! (I love cheese!) I was out of parmesan, but I had a ton of those pizza hut packeets of parm, so I used those. Turned out great!! Levi wasn't too fond of it, but the rest of us were.

    Lynn

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  3. Blue berries are quite easy to can and then they do not take up freezer space

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