Snow Ice Cream Recipe

Bubba had a banana bread recipe and it is awesome. It’s the only banana bread recipe I know that includes 7 up. You’ll want to make some. For real. Try it!

Bubba’s Banana Bread Recipe

4 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking soda
2 cups sugar
1 c. butter or shortening (butter is best)
4 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
1 cup 7up
2 cups bananas (3 or 4)
1/2 cup walnuts

Cream sugar, butter and eggs. Beat after each egg. Add vanilla, bananas, and sifted dry ingredients alternating with 7up. Fold in nuts. Bake at 350 degrees F for 45 minutes. Makes 3 loaves.

image via flickr, copyright Barbara L. Hanson

This picture makes brussels sprouts look fresh and yummy.  It is a lie. They are nasty and I hope to never eat them again. I used this recipe and if you’re brave enough to have the smell in your house and make some for yourself, this is the recipe I used.

A couple of weeks ago our friends, The Cooks, came through town and stayed at “Hotel Nelson”.  During their last visit she had given me a few veggie recipes since she knew I was working on this project.  I decided to have one of the salads when they came to visit.  She even made it for me!

Green Bean and Walnut Salad Recipe

1/2 cup ground walnuts

2 medium-size cloves garlic, crushed in a garlic press

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar, or more to taste

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon water

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 pound green beans, trimmed and cut crosswise in half

1/2 medium-size red onion, thinly sliced

1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro

Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Boil the beans in lightly salted water for about 7 minutes, or until beans are tender.  Drain, run under cold water, drain again, and pat dry.

Combine walnuts, garlic, vinegar, lemon juice, water and oil.  Mix together and let stand for 30 minutes.

In a bowl, combine the beans and the onion.  Add the dressing, cilantro, and more vinegar.  Season to taste.  Serve chilled or at room temperature.

Recipe from Please to the Table via FreshDirect.com

She warned me that the colors would change a bit in the next day or two after it is made but it is still good…and tastes even better!    This was a great, refreshing side and something that I’ve never had before.  I’ve never really liked green beans but I’m beginning to realize that I never really like canned grean beans.  The ones I bought were farm fresh local beans and were absolutely delicious!

Have a suggestions for a vegetable for me to try next?

photo credit 46137 on flickr

The first time I ate asparagus wasn’t very long ago.  I think it may have been within the last year or two.  I liked it…but not enough to really seek it out at the store and make it at home.  Now that I’m trying to focus more on veggies and eating locally grown produce, I took into account that it is asparagus season (or is it about to end now?).  I found some from a local-ish farm (less than 100 miles away) at Open Harvest–this really great grocery store that has a lot of locally produced food.

The asparagus I purchased was really big–not like those tiny, flimsy spears you see bunched up at the store.  They looked amazing.  I brought them home and followed James Peterson’s “recipe” to roast them.

After peeling the stems, I coated them with olive oil, sprinkled them with salt and pepper, and roasted them in a 400 degree oven for 15 minutes.

YUM.

In my quest to love veggies, I thought I would read some books about them.  I’m still not quite finished with this book but thought I’d take the time to write up some thoughts and share it here.

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle is by Barbara Kingsolver.  I’ve read and enjoyed several of her works of fiction (like The Poisonwood Bible and The Bean Trees) so I thought this might be interesting to read how she spent a year focusing on eating local.  This book is very long but I got it as an audio download from the library so I’m able to push through it in spurts on my iPod.

There have been times where I’ve felt that the author could just “get on with it”.  She spends a lot of time talking politics, food science, etc… and while I know this is an important part of her argument, I think it takes her a little too long to make her points.  The sidebars written by her husband, on the other hand, are short and to the point.  I appreciate that.  Maybe this wouldn’t matter so much to me if I had more time to listen to a book about food.

One major thing I will take away from this book is to support local food sources.  I’m lucky enough to live in Nebraska and we have plenty of opportunity to buy local produce and meat.  I know there are some grocery stores in the area that carry locally grown produce as well.

Eating in season is another concept that I’ll try to do more of.  I’m hoping that by eating locally grown, in season vegetables that I’ll like them more.  It’s worth a shot, right?

I’m kind of cheating this week because I already love jicama.  I fell in love with it when I served a mission for my church in Mexico.  I’m also kind of cheating by recycling a post I wrote back in 2007 called, Jicama 101.

Enjoy.

This, my friends, is a jícama. It is pronounced HEECK-uh-muh. I love them and I want you to love them, too.

A jícama is a vegetable that comes from Mexico and South America. It has often been described as a blend between an apple and a potato. It is somewhat sweet, watery, and can be eaten raw as well as cooked. It can be boiled, steamed, and mashed or cut up to be eaten with guacamole, put into salads, or with just a smidge of lime and salt (my personal favorite). You can even grill it! I can imagine it could be a little intimidating to try and figure out what to do with a jícama if one ended up in your shopping cart one day. Here is my tutorial on how to make my favorite Mexican street snack!

I like to give mine a little rub with a damp towel before I get down to the real business.

This particular jícama is well over 3 lbs. They range from ounces up to 6 lbs. I usually try to find them that are 1-2 lbs. but it seemed like the store didn’t have any smaller than this when I was there. I’m not complaining! That just means more jícama for me! For the sake of this tutorial, however, I cut out a chunk for demonstration.

I use a knife to get under the skin and then use my hand to peel it back. It is much quicker and faster than trying to cut off the skin.

See that big chunk of peel? That was fun. There is still a small bit of rough skin on the outside. When I begin to cut the jícama, I can easily cut this off.

I cut slices about 1/2 inch thick.

I stack some slices and cut them into sticks. Before I do this, I trim the sides so my sticks will not have the rounded edges. These sides either go directly into my mouth (highly likely), I give them to Eva, or I save them for a salad.

I place the sticks in a cup and squeeze a little lime juice over them. Then add a dash of salt. A little goes a long way–remember, you can always add MORE but it is harder to take away! Feeling spicy? Add a dash of chili powder.

Wrap up any leftover sticks in plastic or place in a baggie. You can refrigerate them for up to a week. Jícama sticks make great snacks. They are healthy and refreshing on those hot summer days. It really takes me back to the time I spent in Mexico when you could buy jícama sticks from street vendors on every major corner. Enjoy!

I’m trying to get my kids to eat more vegetables.  This is difficult for me because there are very few veggies I like.  I was a very fickle eater growing up and I want to be able to show my kids a better example about eating well-rounded meals.  So, it’s time to learn to love my veggies.

photo credit La Grande Farmer's Market

The older I get, the more I’ve been able to get over some of the food phobias of my past.  I used to never eat onions.  Now I can’t get enough of them.  Mustard?  I’ve learned to love it.  I think it is about time I do the same with more foods.  I went to the library.  I checked out over 2,000 pages worth of information and recipes on vegetables.  I’ve been looking over them these past few days and I’m ready to start.

The book, Vegetables, by James Peterson was by far my favorite.  It not only gives recipes but it is an in depth look at all different types of vegetables and the many different ways they can be prepared.

I might not go in order, but I am starting at the beginning.  I bought my first artichoke today.

Do you have a special way that you prepare artichokes?  Any recommendations for me?