Fresh Pasta Salad

Ingredients:
3 cups whole wheat pasta

fresh veggies
1/4 cup of sunflower seeds
1/2 cup olive oil
1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp dill

Order whole wheat pasta in bulk, and you will always be able to toss 

local, fresh, chopped vegetables into a pasta salad!

I stopped at Fritchey's farmers market the other day and made a pasta salad for the weekend.

I love using a variety of tomatoes, onions, cucumbers,
carrots, zucchini, squash, and broccoli. 

Top your pasta salad with some herbs from your herb garden.
I used fresh cilantro!

For the dressing I used olive oil, salt, pepper, oregano, & dill,
but you can use whatever you want!

Don't forget to throw in sunflower seeds or any type of nut to add crunch and texture!

Let your pasta salad sit in the fridge covered for a couple hours to soak up
the flavor of the dressing.

Add cheese, meat, or fish if you would like.
Sometimes it is nice to serve a purely vegan dish!

Enjoy!

Twice Baked Sweet Potato

Served with roasted squash and zucchini and a BBQ sandwich from

North Georgia BBQ in Helen.

Here is their contact info:

663 Edelweiss Strasse, Helen, GA 30545

706-878-5753

Ingredients:

3 sweet potatoes

2 tbsp butter

1/8 tsp salt

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1 tbsp honey

1 tbsp milk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400.

Wrap sweet potatoes individually in foil and bake for 1 hour. 

Let sweet potatoes cool until you can handle them.

Cut them in half, and scoop out center pulp 

leaving about half an inch of pulp on the sides.

Put pulp in medium sized bowl.

Add butter, salt, cinnamon, honey, and milk and mash ingredients 

until blended.

Fill potato shells with pulp and place them on a baking sheet.

Bake for 15-20 minutes.

Makes 6 servings.

Enjoy!

I am not a huge fan of baked beans and traditional potato salad, 

so I like sides like this to go with a BBQ sandwich. 

Thin crust yeast free pizza

Recipe below will make 2 pizzas, 

and you will have some dipping sauce left over.

Ingredients:

Sauce:

5-6 tomatoes, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp basil

2 tbsp honey

Crust:

2 cups flour

2 tsp salt

2 tsp oregano

1/4 tsp pepper

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups of milk

1 tbsp olive oil

Cheese:

1/2 gallon of farm fresh milk

1/2 cup vinegar

Toppings:

whatever you would like!

Directions:

Cheese:

Make cheese by following directions here:

http://www.sauteelocavore.blogspot.com/2013/04/cheese-making.html

Cool cheese in fridge to harden.

Sauce:

Simmer tomatoes and garlic in a large pot for at least 2 hours, stirring often.

Sauce will thicken.

Add salt, pepper, oregano, basil, and honey while sauce is cooking.

Crust:

Preheat oven to 400.

Lightly grease 2 pizza pans with olive oil.

Stir together flour, salt, oregano, pepper, eggs, & milk

Pour batter into pans, spreading evenly.

Bake for about 20 mins until crust is set.

Add sauce, toppings, & cheese to your pizza!

Cook for an additional 10-15 minutes.

Cool for 10 mins before cutting and serving.

I like to put the cheese on last for this recipe

so that it will hold some of the toppings down.

The topping I used above are sausage, kale, onions, & peppers.

I cooked the crumbled sausage in a skillet before adding it to the pizza.

This homemade cheese doesn't melt as well as store bought mozzarella,

but I just appreciate the process of making it and knowing the ingredients.

Enjoy!

Strawberry Shortcake

Ingredients:
2-3 pints of strawberries
2 cups heavy whipping cream
2 cups flour
1/2 cup of sugar
4 tbsp of sugar
1/2 cup of butter, softened
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup milk

Directions:
Whip cream with 2 tbsp sugar in a mixer or food processor
until it has thickened.
Don't whip too long or you will make butter instead!
Put cream in bowl in fridge.
Slice the strawberries and mix them with 1/2 cup of sugar.
Put strawberries in bowl in fridge.
Preheat oven to 425.
Grease and flour one 8 inch round cake pan.
In a large bowl combine flour, baking powder, 2 tbsp sugar, & salt.
Cut in the butter. Add the egg, milk, and vanilla extract.
Stir until just combined.
Spread the batter into the cake pan.
Bake for about 15-20 mins until cake is golden brown.
Your cake will look like one big biscuit, this is a dry shortcake recipe.
Cool for about 10 mins, then flip the cake onto a large plate
and turn cake over.
Slice the cake in half horizontally, making two layers.
Layer the cake in this order:
cake, berries, whipped cream, cake, whipped cream, berries.
Fold the top layer of cream onto the berries a bit to contain any
berry juice that might drip down the sides.

The first layer of cake soaks up the berry juice making it soft and sweet!

Enjoy!

Mountain Fresh Creamery sells local milk, butter,
and heavy whipping cream,
so you can make your own local whipped cream!
Sometimes they don't have butter in stock, but if they have whipping cream,
you can make your own butter!

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

Ingredients:
2 bananas, fresh or frozen, mashed
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 1/2 cups wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350.

Grease and flour a loaf pan.

Mix bananas, butter, sugar, & vanilla extract in a large bowl.

Beat in 2 eggs and 1/2 cup milk.

In a separate bowl mix flour, baking powder, & salt.
Add dry mixture to wet mixture and stir.

Pour batter into loaf pan.

Bake for appx. 50 minutes.

I drizzled this loaf with an icing that I made by mixing
1/2 cup of powdered sugar with 1 tsp of milk.

Enjoy!
Serve with ice cream if you would like!

I advise that you serve the bread directly from the loaf pan.
This bread loaf does not flip over well because of the chocolate chips
that tend to make their way to the bottom of the bread when it cooks.

Sunflower Shrimp with Couscous & Corn Salad

Ingredients:
shrimp
1/8 cup sunflower seeds
shrimp sauce:
1/8 cup soy sauce or Bragg's amino acids
1/8 cup honey
2 tbsp sesame oil

corn salad:
cup of corn kernels
large tomato, diced
green pepper, diced
1/8 onion, chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp vinegar
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp basil

(Corn salad in picture is sprinkled with homemade cheese.)
http://www.sauteelocavore.blogspot.com/2013/04/cheese-making.html

1 cup couscous
2 cups water
1 tbsp olive oil

Directions:
Mix all ingredients of corn salad together and let cool in fridge
for at least 2 hours before serving so that the veggies have time to soak up
the flavor from the dressing.
 Mix ingredients for shrimp sauce and saute shrimp in sauce
on medium heat for about 5 minutes.
Add sunflower seeds and saute shrimp for an additional 5 minutes
until sauce is thick and shrimp are firm and golden.
Bring water and olive oil to boil in a medium pot.
Add 1 cup of couscous, and sprinkle in 1/4 tsp of herbs if you would like.
Put lid on pot and remove from heat.
After 5 minutes, lift the lid and fluff the couscous with a fork.

Enjoy!

Crustless Kale Quiche

Ingredients:

3 cups of kale, chopped

5 eggs, beaten

2 cups of crumbled cheese

1/2 sweet onion, chopped

1/2 cup milk

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

1/8 tsp oregano

1 tbsp oil

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350.

Lightly grease a 9 inch pie pan.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat.

Add onions then kale, stirring occasionally until they are soft.

In a large bowl, combine eggs, cheese, milk, salt, pepper, & oregano.

Add spinach mixture and stir to blend.

Pour evenly into pie pan.

Bake in oven about 30 minutes, until eggs have set in the center.

Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!

I used homemade cheese for this recipe and the quiche was so delicious!

Learn how to make your own cheese here:

http://www.sauteelocavore.blogspot.com/2013/04/cheese-making.html

Sweetwater Potted Herbs for Sale

Potted herbs from Sweetwater Growers are for sale at the Cleveland Ingles.

Sweetwater Growers farm is in Cherokee County.

Their herbs are grown hydroponically, in water instead of soil.

Here is their website . . . 

http://www.sweetwatergrowers.com/

The herbs for sale are thyme, mint, oregano, basil, dill, & parsley.

They are only $2.49.

That is about how much you would pay for a cutting of herbs at Ingles.

Cheese Making

I used Mountain Fresh Creamery whole milk to make cheese today.

Their milk is Grade A Pasteurized and Non-Homogenized.

It is excellent for cheese making.

I tried making cheese with Horizons organic whole milk, 

and their milk barely yielded any curds.

1/2 gallon of milk makes appx. 2 cups of cheese.

Here's how to make it:

Pour half a gallon of milk into a large pot and cook on medium heat.

Stir often so milk will not burn.

Cook until milk begins to boil (reaches 180 degrees).

Tiny bubbles will form around the wall of the pot.

Immediately turn off burner, 

and pour in 1/2 cup of vinegar or lemon juice.

Stir milk slowly and watch as curds form out from the whey.

Let milk sit 5-10 minutes to make sure all of the curds have separated.

Put a cheesecloth over a strainer, and place the strainer over a large bowl.

Pour milk through strainer and curds will stay in the cloth.

Squeeze out excess whey from cheese.

You can add salt and herbs to your cheese if you would like.

You can serve or cook with the cheese immediately, 

or you can wrap it in the cloth and store in the refrigerator.   

I am storing my cheese in cloth bags from Nora Mill Granary.

I turn them inside out so the cheese doesn't get caught in the threads.

Enjoy!

Peach Cider

Betty's Country Store in Helen has a great deal on 

Peach Cider and Muscadine Cider 

from Hazel Creek Orchards in Mt. Airy.

124 oz. for only $7.99

Awesome deal!

We always dilute our cider with water as we pour it. 

1/2 cider, 1/2 water lasts for a couple weeks. :)

Sesame Tempura Green Beans & Chicken Strips

Ingredients:

large plate of fresh or recently canned, firm green beans

3 chicken breasts

1 cup unbleached all purpose flour

1 cup milk

2 tbsp sesame seeds 

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

1 cup oil for frying

Asian dipping sauce:

1/8 cup soy sauce or Bragg's amino acids

1/8 cup honey

1/8 cup peanut butter

Directions:

Make sure green beans are dry.

Cut thawed chicken breasts into strips.

In a medium sized bowl, mix flour, 1 1/2 tbsp sesame seeds,
salt, and pepper in bowl.

Add milk and blend.

Add oil to frying pan and heat until oil is sizzling.

Dip green beans a few at a time into tempura batter and drop them into pan.

Turn green beans with spatula to cook both sides.

When batter is golden, place green beans onto a large pan
covered with a paper towel to dry.

The paper towel will soak up the excess oil.

Do the same thing with the chicken after cooking the green beans, not before, 

so you won't contaminate your batter with raw chicken.

Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 tbsp of sesame seeds
onto the top of the green beans.

This recipe is wonderful with fresh shrimp, as well!

Delicious when served with basmati or jasmine rice!

I added a simple recipe for Asian dipping sauce
to dip your tempura foods into.

Enjoy!

Simple Pasta, Simple Salad

"Life is amazingly good when it's simple 
and amazingly simple when it's good. "

(pictured with an easy drop biscuit)

Ingredients:
Pasta Sauce

pasta (any kind)

2 large tomatoes, diced

1/4 of a Vidalia onion, chopped

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1/8 cup olive oil

1/4 tsp basil

1/4 tsp oregano

1/4 tsp salt

Salad

green leaf lettuce

1 carrot

splash of balsamic or raspberry vinaigrette over salad

Directions:

Add pasta to a large pot of boiling water.

Cook for 10-15 minutes. Drain in colander when soft.

Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a pan and saute garlic, onions, and tomatoes.

Add basil, oregano, and salt.

Saute for about 10 minutes.

Put drained pasta in a large bowl, pour tomato mixture in, and toss.

Top salad and pasta with grated cheese and ground pepper if you would like.

Enjoy!

This meal is super quick and easy!
Pasta sauce makes about 3 servings.

Easy Drop Biscuits

(drop biscuits pictured with tomato basil soup)

This is the easiest biscuit recipe ever!

Ingredients:

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 tbsp baking powder

2 tsp sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup melted butter (1 stick)

1 cup milk

1 tsp dried herbs (optional)

1/4 cup shredded cheese (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450.

In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, 

sugar, salt, and dried herbs (if you would like).

Stir in butter and milk, and shredded cheese (if you would like).

Drop the batter by the tablespoon on a lightly greased sheet.

Don't let the goopy mounds fool you! They will be delicious!

Bake about 10 minutes until biscuits are golden on the edges.

Serve warm!

I added oregano, thyme, and shredded cheese to the biscuits pictures above.

These biscuits are great as soft scones with chopped fruit and nuts in them, as well!

Enjoy!

I love this recipe because you don't have to use extra amounts 

of flour to roll, knead, and cut the biscuits. Your kitchen won't be a mess,

and all you have left to clean is a bowl!

Whole Wheat Sunflower Seed and Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1/2 cup organic sugar

1/4 cup of sunflower seeds

1/4 cup of chocolate chips

1/2 cup butter (1 stick)

1 egg

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tbsp. milk

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:

Mix softened butter and sugar. Add egg and mix. 

Add remaining ingredients and mix until smooth.

Refrigerate dough for 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 375.

Place dough balls on an ungreased cookie sheet. 

Bake about 15 minutes or until lightly browned.

Place on a cooling rack for 5 mins.

Remove from sheet and cool.

Enjoy!

These is a health conscious recipe.
If you want a more buttery, sweeter, flatter cookie,
double the amounts of butter and sugar in the recipe above. :)