Traveling with an aunt, uncle, and two cousins to Florida one summer, we stopped for lunch. Only, we didn't stop at a McDonalds or other fast food joint. My aunt made sandwiches from the pimento cheese my grandmother (Nanny) had made. I knew pimento cheese was that orange crap in the grocery store, but this wasn't orange, had a creamy consistency, and I thought I might be able to manage eating it, since it didn't look like a Happy Meal was in my near future. After one bite, I was hooked. Since then, I have loooooved to go to my nanny's and find it in her refrigerator. The week before my wedding, she brought me some and I had it for lunch every day.
I have searched and searched for the proper methodology to make pimento cheese. Google is no help. Nanny told me the ingredients were Velveeta, mayonnaise, and pimentos, but I didn't think I could just stir in a brick of Velveeta and a jar of pimentos into a jar of mayo and be done. This past weekend, I asked her EXACTLY what she did (my grandma is also one of those "a pinch of this, a dab of that" cooks if that explains anything) and she told me. I just made my own, and it is great! I also lightened it up a bit...I don't know how South Beach Friendly it is, but I would think it is Phase 2 friendly on a sandwich, and possibly Phase 1 friendly as a dip for veggies.
Pimento Cheese--the 3 P recipe
1 Pint of Duke's Light Mayonnaise (I shun any other kind)
1 Pound of 2% Velveeta
1 jar of Pimentos (diced)
1) Melt the Velveeta in a double boiler
2) Meanwhile, put Duke's and pimentos in the bowl you plan to store the pimento cheese in.
3) When the Velveeta is completely melted, mix it into the Duke's and pimentos.
4) Refrigerate and enjoy on sandwiches or with crackers or veggies
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Brown Rice Risotto
Who doesn't love risotto?! With a creamy texture and ability to absorb flavors, it's one of my favorite foods. Unfortunately, something like 99.5% of recipes call for a white rice. Because it's such a great dish, with lots of leftovers for lunch the next day, I have been looking for a way to make it more healthy according to South Beach Diet guidelines. I found some information online, which suggested short grain brown rice. Sounds easy, right?
Oh wait, I forgot to tell you. My community's grocery stores are very basic and don't carry many exotic or unique foods. They only had long grain brown rice.
Thankfully, I was in Durham last week for an appointment. I found some short grain brown rice at Whole Foods. I also adapted one of their recipes, found here.
Annnnnd this is what I did Saturday night:
1 quart chicken broth
5 cups water
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup finely minced onion
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 cup sliced mushrooms
2 cups uncooked short-grain brown rice
2/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 tsp. Morton's Seasoning
I mixed the broth and water and heated it while heating the olive oil in a large saucepan. I sauteed the onion, garlic and mushrooms in the oil until soft, then added the rice and toasted it for about 5 minutes. I then added the liquid, a ladle at a time, constantly stirring. After about an hour, the rice was soft and thoroughly cooked. I added the cheese and sprinkled the seasoning over the risotto and stirred.
The results? INCREDIBLE. It was so creamy and flavorful. The mushrooms really infused flavor throughout the dish, which is odd because they have such a mild flavor. I suppose the long cooking and simmering time would be responsible for that. I took a picture, but it came out looking like oatmeal. Just look at the picture in the Whole Foods link and imagine it without the green, and with thick slices of mushrooms. Mine did come out a little salty, not unpleasantly so, but definitely had no need for added salt.
I would caution though, if you choose to make this risotto, make sure your other dishes are not very involved. I tried doing fried zucchini and squash while doing the risotto and it was more stress than I like to feel in the kitchen. Yes, it is a pain to stand over the stove for an hour and constantly stir and sometimes it felt like it would never finish cooking. But the end result--definitely worth all the trouble and lack of SBD guilt.
Oh wait, I forgot to tell you. My community's grocery stores are very basic and don't carry many exotic or unique foods. They only had long grain brown rice.
Thankfully, I was in Durham last week for an appointment. I found some short grain brown rice at Whole Foods. I also adapted one of their recipes, found here.
Annnnnd this is what I did Saturday night:
1 quart chicken broth
5 cups water
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup finely minced onion
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 cup sliced mushrooms
2 cups uncooked short-grain brown rice
2/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 tsp. Morton's Seasoning
I mixed the broth and water and heated it while heating the olive oil in a large saucepan. I sauteed the onion, garlic and mushrooms in the oil until soft, then added the rice and toasted it for about 5 minutes. I then added the liquid, a ladle at a time, constantly stirring. After about an hour, the rice was soft and thoroughly cooked. I added the cheese and sprinkled the seasoning over the risotto and stirred.
The results? INCREDIBLE. It was so creamy and flavorful. The mushrooms really infused flavor throughout the dish, which is odd because they have such a mild flavor. I suppose the long cooking and simmering time would be responsible for that. I took a picture, but it came out looking like oatmeal. Just look at the picture in the Whole Foods link and imagine it without the green, and with thick slices of mushrooms. Mine did come out a little salty, not unpleasantly so, but definitely had no need for added salt.
I would caution though, if you choose to make this risotto, make sure your other dishes are not very involved. I tried doing fried zucchini and squash while doing the risotto and it was more stress than I like to feel in the kitchen. Yes, it is a pain to stand over the stove for an hour and constantly stir and sometimes it felt like it would never finish cooking. But the end result--definitely worth all the trouble and lack of SBD guilt.
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Reminders...
Yesterday was a rotten day. My first two groups of kids had a mixture of spring fever/Friday fever/EOG brain fry. They were off the wall. My overhead blew a bulb as soon as I turned it on and I had to send someone to get a replacement. I was ready to pull my hair out.
But then I had my youngest group. The little girl is just precious. She is always so excited to learn and do things, and she is ALWAYS in a good mood. I don't know if it was just a relief to finally have a group that listened and did as they were asked, but by the end of my time with them, I wanted to call her mom and say, "You know what? Your child was such a blessing to me today." And that sustained me for the rest of the day.
Chinese take-out and $18.00 savings at the grocery store also improved my mood!
But then I had my youngest group. The little girl is just precious. She is always so excited to learn and do things, and she is ALWAYS in a good mood. I don't know if it was just a relief to finally have a group that listened and did as they were asked, but by the end of my time with them, I wanted to call her mom and say, "You know what? Your child was such a blessing to me today." And that sustained me for the rest of the day.
Chinese take-out and $18.00 savings at the grocery store also improved my mood!
Friday, May 15, 2009
The Beginning
I love food. I love cooking, dining out, and entertaining with food. However, loving food too much leads to undesired results. In November I started the South Beach Diet and have lost 13 pounds since then (I haven't always been strict about it, especially during teacher appreciation week!). I love finding new recipes with the whole grains and trying them out. I also like the challenge of making my existing recipes more SBD friendly.
I am an Exceptional Children's teacher in a small town in coastal North Carolina. I love my students. They are some of the hardest working kids I have ever met. I have some great colleagues. I got married in October 2008 to my wonderful husband Jimmy. We have two dogs, Sadie and Katie, and a cat, named Remus. We love to travel, go fishing, and home improvement projects. Well, maybe we don't love the projects, but we try to make them fun!
I am an Exceptional Children's teacher in a small town in coastal North Carolina. I love my students. They are some of the hardest working kids I have ever met. I have some great colleagues. I got married in October 2008 to my wonderful husband Jimmy. We have two dogs, Sadie and Katie, and a cat, named Remus. We love to travel, go fishing, and home improvement projects. Well, maybe we don't love the projects, but we try to make them fun!
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